


Harry Potter and The Shard of Light

by Known_Unkown



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 5th year DADA teacher Lockhart!!!, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Drama & Romance, Enemies to Friends, F/M, Female Harry, Female Harry Potter, Fluff and Humor, Harry can think for himself, Hogwarts Era, Hurt/Comfort, Independent Harry Potter, M/M, Monthly updates, Sort Of, Soulmates, Tags May Change, Teacher-Student Relationship, Vampire Severus Snape, Vampires, annoying Glideroy Lockhart, snarry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Known_Unkown/pseuds/Known_Unkown
Summary: After the Triwizard tournament, Harriet learns to look at the world differently. So when she gets back for her 5th year she is not the same anymore but she isn't the only thing which is different. At the beginning of the year Harriet accidentally finds out the potion’s master’s little secret and on top of that, the fraud of the century Gilderoy Lockhart is back to Hogwarts. And if all that wasn't enough, she is now having weird dreams invading her sleep most nights.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter & Severus Snape, Harry Potter/Severus Snape, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 50
Kudos: 230





	1. Chapter 1

AN: Ok, first things first. I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER AND I AM NOT MAKING ANY MONEY OFF IT.

So here is the edited version of this story. I don't have a beta and its really hard for me to find my own typo and grammar mistakes, so (sheepish Laugh) you guys are more than welcome to point that out to me. Also please leave me some feedback I would really love to know what you guys think of this work.

**Chapter 1**

**Summer of 1995, 4 Privet Drive**

  
“Both of us together… we will take it together. It will be a Hogwarts victory”  
“A tie… you’re on. Together on three…”  
“Kill the spare.”  
“Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident.”  
“What really happened in that graveyard?”  
“Harriet...take my body back...to my parents.”  
“I will...”  
“Kill the spare”  
“Kill the spare”  
“Kill the spare”  
A blast of green light…

Harriet woke up with a muffled scream. Curling up on herself, she desperately tried to muffle the rest of her whimpers but still her gasps for air was audible in the quiet room. Even though it has been months since the night at the grave yard those 3 words still rang in her ears.

Slowly she made herself sit up and take a survey of the room, to make herself focus on something other than her shaking hands and beating heart, the state made her smile.

When she returned 4 Privet Drive they promptly shoved her into Dudley’s second bedroom full of broken toys and knickknacks and locked her in. She was perfectly okay with it. It’s not like she had expected her so called relatives to be kind to her.

She went to musty old bed and quietly sat down. Blankly staring at the wall until all memories of the graveyard came rushing back, Cedric’s cold dead eyes his pale lifeless body, the anguish cry of his father and the ‘if onlys’… So many ‘if only’. If only she never asked him to take the cup, if only she had been stronger, if only she just tried harder he wouldn’t have died. She didn’t want to remember it all but she couldn’t forget it either. And in truth she couldn’t forgive herself for Cedric’s death or for Voldemort's return.

She was drowning in all the grief and guilt. Instead of trying to claw her way out of it she let herself sink in deeper and deeper until she could hardly breathe. Then a small hand came to pull her out of the sea of despair and like a lifeline she grabbed on to it. Since then Dobby had become a permanent fixture in her life.

Harriet couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory when Dobby noticed the state of the room for the first time… well let’s just say the little house elf wasn’t very happy with it and promptly started to clean it. Then when he realized what the Dursleys was giving her as food, the little guy gave it an indignant look and vanished it, than he started bringing food for her straight from Hogwarts kitchen, because his missy Potter should be eating real food not muggle cardboard. And when Dobby saw her lost in thought, he brought books from the Hogwarts library and dumped them on her head, ordering her not to think about bad things so much.

Harriet let out a genuine giggle at the antics of her little friend because every part of this little room which has always been her prison, now held fond memories of the elf. And she knew if she ever asked the little guy to get her out of here he would do just that.

Lost in her thoughts she rubbed her arms and instantly she winced. She drew back her hand away from her left arm, as it was too painful even to a gentle caress. Uncle Vernon was not happy with her when his clients didn’t like his hospitality so he did not get the contract and somehow it was her fault, even though she was locked in her room. It hurt when he grabbed her arm and shook her like a rag doll yelling at her face. Sure she was used to it, being blamed for everything and her so called relative leaving bruises on her, it was a common occurrence in Dursley household. She was also thankful that her aunt was satisfied with just watching or she might not have been spared with just some bruises. But calming the little raging elf on the warpath for vengeance was not easy for her. Hell it took her hours to convince Dobby not to turn the Dursleys into flies.

Her little happy cloud vanished when suddenly the door flew open. Harriet jumped to her feet, wand in hand pointing straight at the now open entrance. Hundreds of scenarios went threw her head. She held her breath waiting for the hexes to start flying. But they never did! Instead she heard heavy footsteps coming toward her. She swallowed dryly and tried to focus her eyes to see in the dark,when a Heavy form of a man entered her room. She tightened the grip around her wand ready to throw the first spell and to call dobby to get her and Hedwig out of there. But before she could pull the trigger so to say, the man spoke in a familiar voice "Miss Potter there is no need for that".

It took Harriet bit of time but her eyes widen when she finally realized who it was. Even though she recognized the voice now the tension didn't leave her instead the effect was the exact opposite. "Professor Moody! What are you doing here?" Harriet said warily.

“Of course, bringing you to safety" the grufness was similar to the fake moody but there was something different.

"Safety?" Harriet echoed the word. But still did not lower her wand.

“What he meant to say is that we are here to collect you” Another familiar voice came from behind Moody and this time it didn’t take Harriet even a second to recognize it but she still refused to lower her wand. Instead she gripped her wand tighter and asked “Remus, What is the first thing you said to me about my parents”

Remus looked a bit taken aback but answered her anyways “You have your mother’s eyes and thank god her hair even though it’s raven like your dad’s”

Harriet face finally lit up and the tension bled out of her “Moony it's good to see you again”.

“It's good to see you too Harriet” Remus said with a gentle smile as he caste ‘Lumos’ and the room became a little brighter with the dim light.

"Enough with the pleasantries” Mad eye barked but something akin to approval shined in the old wizard’s eyes. “We don’t have time for chit chat. Pack your trunks Potter we are on the clock"

“But where are we going” Harriet asked even while she was pulling out her trunk from under the bed.

“You will know when we get there. Besides, I think you will like the surprise. Now pack your things we really don’t have much time. Don’t want them to wake up” Remus smiled at Harriet.

Harriet suddenly realized that her aunt and uncle waking up and stopping her from leaving was a very real possibility. They didn’t want her there but for some reason they also made a big fuss every time she had gone to Hogwarts. So not wanting to risk her chances she doubled down on her vigor and started stuffing her spurs belongings in it. Remus went to the desk and sent her books floating to the trunks to help the packing go faster. When she was done packing her things she went to her owl’s cage and let her out with a smile. Hedwig seemed as happy as she was and flew out of the cage with a cheerful chirper. The bird flew around the room a few times and then landed on her master’s shoulder. Harriet gently scratched the bird underneath its beak. Then let her fly away knowing no matter what happened Hedwig would follow her anywhere.

"Are you done yet Potter" Mad eye asked looking at his pocket watch.

"Come on, give the girl a break you barely gave her 5 minutes" a woman with pink hair spoke from the doorway peaking in.

"Every single minute we spend here we run more chances of getting ourselves into an early grave Nymphadora."

"Don't call me Nymphadora" the pink haired woman grumbled but there was hardly much viaments in it as if it was already deemed a lost cause and she was only repeating out of habit and not out of any hope that it will change anything.

"I am ready" Harriet said dragging her trunk behind her. Remus took the heavy trunk from her, shrunk it and put it in his pocket.

"Good. It’s about time we left" Mad eye grumbled as he walked out of the room his wooden leg clicking all the way down the stairs. When Harriet followed the old auror to the living room she noticed there were 3 more people standing there looking distinctly out of place there. She couldn't imagine she would have gone with them anywhere if Remus wasn’t there. After the graveyard she wasn't really that eager to trust many people. But Remus was there and she considered the man her family and trusted him so the rest was a mute point for now.

The odd party came out of the house Harriet following behind. When they reached the driveway she wondered how will they make their journey. She couldn’t imagine them driving out of there. Okay, maybe on a flying car but they weren’t that common in the wizarding world and she was pretty sure that the one that she and Ron took out for a joy ride was the only one of its kind. She still felt guilty over the whole Arthur Weasley facing an inquiry because of their childish and misguided adventure.

Harriet somehow ended up right in the middle of the line up of the unusual company of wizards and witches. At one side of her was Remus and the other side of her stood Nymphadora. When remus told her to reach out her hand in front of her as others reached out their hand in front of them. Curious she copied and to her surprise her Firebolt came flying toward her out of thin air. Having her broom in her hand sent a jolt of excitement threw her. She wanted to jump up and down, and she looked at others she saw them holding their own brooms. And when they mounted them so did she. She looked at Remus with her uncontrolled grin and got a broad smile in return.

“Don’t break formation” mad eye barked out and took off, and so did everyone else following his lead.

Harriet couldn’t hold the seriousness of the situation and how could she, when she was finally flying after what seemed like an eternity. She bloody loved the feeling of her long hair flow in the wind. But the exhilaration didn't last for too long, the mad eye’s use of the word “safety” kept her feeling uneasy.

After the return of the dark lord she was anxious of what his next move would be. And she wasn’t sure of what was the current state of the wizarding world was. Even though she could have asked Dobby to bring her a paper to read, she didn't. Instead she buried herself in textbooks trying to learn everything she missed or didn't pay attention in last 4 years and when she was done with them. She started studying the 5th and 6th year books. And to her surprise she found out many of the defensive and shielding spells actually falls into charms so she studied it with a lot more attention. Eventually she found out that she actually loved charms as much as DADA. Who would have known right? But now she was kicking herself for not keeping herself up to date with the news. She hoped and prayed that every one she cared about were well or at the least unhurt. She didn’t know how would she live with herself if anything happened to any of them. She had felt a wave of relief when she saw Remus but she couldn’t shake off the uneasiness.

She was still lost in all of her worries when she noticed they reached in front of old apartment buildings. The neighborhood looked like strictly occupied by muggles. But then again wizards are very good at hiding in plain sight. She was about to ask what were they doing there but before she could, Mad eye thrust a piece of paper under her nose where in a scrawly handwriting “Here is No.12 Grimmauld Place” was written. And as soon as she read it the ground started shaking while the buildings 11th and 13th slowly parted in the middle and a rustic but similar looking building appear.

“After you Miss. Potter” mad eye said waving at the door.

Harriet obliged and entered the threw a rustic heavy framed door which lead to a narrow hallway. She felt a tingle wash over her like the one she felt in Burrow but this one felt much stronger.

Harriet stood at hallway taking in the feel of ward which seemed to welcome her but still there was something to it that didn’t feel quite right. It took her completely off guard when a certain curly haired witch came barreling toward her and toppled both of them into the ground while giving her a very tight hug.

“Harriet it’s so nice to see you” Hermione said while squashing her on the floor.

“Yah, it is Hermione” Harriet giggled at the excited witch.

“Hai Hermione, are you planning to make a pancake out of her or something?” Ron said while walking up to them, grinning ear to ear. He helped the witches get up from the floor.

All three of them smiled holding hands like children, as the trio was complete once again.

“Let’s go Harriet. Everyone is in the Kitchen mum would be so happy to see you” Ron said as Mad eye and everyone else passed them in the narrow hallway. Harriet got a wink from the pink haired lady and another warm smile from Remus which she instantly returned.

Harriet could have sworn she heard Mad eye muttering under his breath while he passed them. But she paid it no notice, instead she followed Ron and Hermione to a room with a very long dining table and shelves decorated with glass plates however like everything else there it had aged and rustic look to it. At the end of the table she spotted a very familiar and dear face to her. Her smile broadened almost ear to ear.

“Harriet James Potter” the man said with a crooked grin.

“Sirius Black” she couldn’t stop smiling. She ran to her god father and jumped into his arms “I missed you Sirius” She hugged her god father as firmly as she could.

“Not more than me kiddo” Sirius hugged her back tightly for a moment lifting her off the ground in his excitement, then put her back down and looked at those green eyes “So how was your summer Bambi? Can’t imagine it being any good.”

“It was okay” Harriet replied without letting her smile fade “spent a lot of time studying. The books Remus sent me for my birthday was quite interesting” she looked at Remus who now stood beside Sirius “I can’t believe they aren’t part of our school curriculum”

“Well they once were when we were in school” Remus looked pleased at her enthusiasm.

“Great! You turned my little Bambi into a bookworm” Sirius said jokingly and all three of them couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Once they were able to control their chuckling and giggling, Harriet asked “So what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked very innocently.

“You know what I am asking”

“I can’t say I do”

“Professor Moody told me they were bringing me to safety and what is this place?”Harriet asked Sirius. He instantly looked at Mad eye and he was clearly not pleased with him.

“Well Harriet this is the Black ancestral home, I grew up here” Sirius answered while bypassing Harriet’s first question. “But before we discuss all that we should all have dinner. I am simply famished”

“As you should be” Harriet turned around as she heard the voice “Mrs. Weasley!” she smiled as the older woman came and gave her a hug. “Oh my! You are thin as a twig” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed petting both of her arms. Harriet yelped as molly’s hand pressed on her bruise. She jerked back, as pain clear on her face.

“What happen Harriet?” Sirius asked, his voice tainted with concern.

“It’s nothing” Harriet quickly replied.

“Let me see Harriet” Sirius took a step toward her.

“I told you it’s nothing” Harriet took a step back. She was about to put her foot down to dismiss it but then she saw the panic in Mrs. Weasley’s eyes.

“I just fell down yesterday. It really is nothing.” Harriet tried to lie.

Sirius and Mrs. Weasley both looked at verge of a panic attack despite her effort.

“Then let us take a look. Okay? ” Remus said soothingly “if it's nothing then it will only reassure us that it's nothing.”

Harriet gave up and pulled up her loose sleeve to her upper arm. Mrs. Weasley gasped when she saw the dark bruise on her arm. It was almost purple and at the edge it was yellowish.

“Oh Harriet” Mrs. Weasley breathed out while Sirius’s face looked thunderous.

“We need to take care of it Bambi” and when Harriet tried to open her mouth Siriuse just gave her a look then he pulled out a chair and sat her on it while Mrs. Weasley brought a damp cloth and gently put it on her bruise.

“Dear how did you fall?” Mrs. Weasley asked.

“Umm… I wasn’t paying much attention and just tripped on something”

“Good Merlin! You should pay more attention dear”

“Yah…” Harriet said acting sheepish. Then she peaked at Sirius and got the impression that he didn’t believe her little story at all.

“We need to put some medicine on this” Mrs. Weasley said fussing over her, then she turned to her youngest son “Ron go call Severus for us, will you?”

Harriet froze when she heard Snape’s name. Her eyes widen, she looked at Sirius and then at Remus. Her eyes were flashing big question marks in them. She couldn’t figure out why was her scary potion’s professor there. Didn’t he and Sirius hate each other? She was in her internal confused rambling when she caught a glance of a black robe from the corner of her eyes. Suddenly she just got the urge to just get up and make a run for it. Oh don’t get her wrong she knew that her reaction to the Potions professor was more than a bit melodramatic but she had a good reason to be scared of the dungeon bat. You see she really really pissed him off last year and Snape was one of those people who could really hold a grudge and not to mention his numerous expressions scares the living daylights out of her.

“Did you need something Molly” Snape asked ignoring both Marauders.

“Could you take a look at her arm Severus, poor dear fell down and got a very nasty bruise” she took the wet cloth off Harriet’s arms revealing the dark purple patch then moved out of the way allowing Snape to take her place to do just what he was requested.

“Can’t you ever stay out of trouble Miss. Potter?” Snape said examining her arms.

Harriet didn’t have any word to answer Snape with; instead she shifted a bit trying to keep her face from giving away her little freak out.

Instead of waiting for an answer Snape just turned around to look at Ron “Mr. Weasley would you mind bringing me my bag”.

Snape pulled out a chair and sat right in front of Harriet. She became even more panicked by the closeness. By every passing second the urge to run away was becoming even more tempting to her but she sat there as still as she could refusing to let herself do something so UnGryffindor. Thankfully before too long Ron came back with a black bag and handed it to Snape. Without a word the raven haired man took the bag from Ron and sat it down on the table then he pulled out 2 vials of potions from it.

“Drink this” he handed one of the vials to her as he opened the other one and poured some of the liquid on a cotton ball. Then looked at Harriet again she was still holding the vial in her hand. “That is not meant to be stared at Potter. It’s a pain relief potion you need to drink that to let it work”

She took a good look at the potion then at Snape before she swallowed it in one go “Gross!!” she said nearly choking on it. She had pain relief potion before too but it never tasted this bad. That made her worry about what she really took. Was that really pain relief potion or something else? There was no telling when it came to Snape, she might just turn into a frog or an insect. Snape took the now empty vial from her hand while she coughed.

“Are you okay Bambi” Sirius asked, concerned about his god daughter.

“She is fine” Snape said expressionless and the lack of his expression was really getting on Sirius’s nerves.

“If anything happens to my goddaughter you will find yourself at the wrong end of my wand” venom dripped from Sirius’s every word.

“As will you Black” Snape spat back, even though his voice was calm there was venom in it too.

“I am fine” Harriet said loudly making sure both wizards heard it clearly.

“See Padfoot she is fine” Remus quickly intervened before it could turn into a duel.

Both of the man glared at each other then Snape shifted his attention back to Harriet. The potion’s master took her arm in his hand and applied the medicine on the purple patch of skin. Harriet was expecting a sting of pain when she felt a slight pressure on her bruise but it never came. Then she was handed the rest of the potion still in the vial “Apply it on the affected area once at night, until it’s fully healed.”

“Thank you professor” she gave a small smile trying to clear up the tensed atmosphere she only got an arched eyebrow in reply.

“Now who is hungry?” Mrs. Weasley asked with a bright smile and Harriet beamed at her, she always knew how to defuse a situation.

Soon the dinner was served and everyone took a seat at the table. Harriet was seated beside the twins. They told her about all the new pranks they came up with. Harriet laughed herself sick when she heard how Ron was walking around with a tail most of the summer. She wished she could have seen that and by the way Ron reacted on the very mention of it, promised it to be one of the epic pranks of the Weasley twins. Everyone enjoyed the food as they talked and laughed all in all it was pleasant.

By the end of the dinner Ron was complaining about the whiskers he was sporting now thanks to the twins and Harriet. Oddly Sirius looked somewhat proud at that, then again not so oddly.

After dinner they all retired for the night. Harriet was sharing a room with Hermione and Ginny. They giggled and chatted well beyond midnight. Hermione explained to her all about ‘The Order Of The Phoenix’. When she heard that Snape was also a part of it, let’s just say it was not as surprising to her as it would have been only a year ago. It was hard for her to think how black and white her worldview used to be but now she could easily see how Severus Snape the snarky potions master who hands out detention like candy, could be one of the ‘good guys’.

It irked her to accept the fact that it was all thanks to the fake Moody. His betrayal taught her to never judge a book by its cover and gave her a much needed lesson on how the real world worked.

**AN**; hopefully see ya all next week my lovelies.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: OH!!! It hasn't been a week and here is another chapter (lol). Well, I was going to wait a bit before posting again but then I saw this comment from a certain princess and I couldn't help myself. So now everyone gets to have a new chapter on Friday.

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who stuck by this story. Thank you for having a place in your heart for this story.

**Chapter 2**

Harriet woke up early that morning and for the first time in a while, she wasn’t in a hurry to get out of bed. She slowly gathered herself and sat upon the bed, still wrapped in her blanket.

Out of nowhere Hedwig came flying and landed on her shoulder. “Hey, snowball did you sleep okay?” Harriet asked her trusted sidekick. She got happy chirps as her answer and she felt like chirping herself. She was so relieved to see everyone she cared about safe and sound. She let out a breath which seemed she was holding for months without even realizing. But she couldn’t help but wonder how long it might last now that Voldemort was back. Before her train of thoughts could take her down to more gloomy stations Hedwig brought her back with a nibble to her ear.

Harriet jerked her head in surprise and the owl landed on her lap. Sitting there the bundle of feathers looked up and if birds could look smug, it was looking extremely smug. “HEDWIG!!!” Harriet gave it a narrow-eyed glare while rubbing her ear. When she got no response, she tried to lie back down ignoring the bird but she was assaulted by a pair of sharp beak yet again.

“Alright alright I am getting up” Harriet nearly jumped out of her bed “Happy?” she asked her alarm clock and it indeed looked pleased. She shook her head at the owl then walked to her trunks. Remus had brought it up for her before they all retired for the night. She took out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, when she was done dressing for the day she stepped out of the room and went downstairs.

In the Kitchen Mrs. Weasley was humming to herself while preparing breakfast with a grumpy house elf. Hermione and Ginny sat at one end of the table whispering about something. Beside them, the twins were good-naturedly poking at their youngest brother, who was still blurry-eyed from sleep. On the other side of the table, Mr. Weasley sat with an issue of the Daily Prophet and a hot cup of tea. A few chairs from him she noticed Remus, Sirius and Moody were busy having a heated discussion but the moment they saw her they instantly stopped talking.

“Good morning” Harriet greeted.

“Good morning dear,” Mrs. Weasley said from near the oven holding a muffin tray “Did you sleep okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” Harriet said politely.

“How is your arm now Bambi?” Her godfather asked her, a hint of worry in his voice.

“Better, it’s not hurting as much and the swelling has gone down too” Harriet replied cheerfully but she wondered what it would have been like to grow up here with her godfather, because even now it was a bit noble for her to be shown true concern. In her entire life, there weren’t many who actually fret over her health or wellbeing. The few times she fell sick as a child her aunt had simply locked her in the cupboard under the stairs and peeked every once in a while. Every time she recovered her aunt looked more annoyed than anything else.

“Good. But don’t forget to apply the potion later” Remus said with his usual smile to which Harriet gave a node at that.

“Sit down dear, breakfast will be ready in a bit” saying that Molly went back to what she was doing. Harriet pulled out a chair and sat across Mr. Weasley.

“So what’s going on?” Harriet asked pointedly.

“Oh nothing interesting, Remus was just complaining that Montrose Magpies the Scottish seeker threw the last match away between Scotland and Japan because he has a crush on Toyohashi Tengu the current seeker of the Japan team,” Sirius said grinning.

Remus looked as though his jaw was about to hit the ground but he kept his composer and reluctantly nodded. Harriet got the impression that Sirius will be in serious trouble in the near future. She almost burst out laughing, but the fact remained, everyone was hiding something from her.

“Just tell her already she will find out sooner or later,” Moody said gruffly at the pair looking rather unimpressed.

Sirius and Remus stiffen at that, Mrs. Weasley instantly turned around while Mr. Weasley was clutching the newspaper in his hands, by everyone's reaction Harriet got a sinking feeling. She looked at them questioningly, but no one spoke for what seemed like an eternity.

“Alastor is right we should tell her,” Remus said into the quiet.

“But Moony…” Sirius tried to protest but he was cut off before he could finish. “She needs to know Padfoot. And it's better we tell her than someone else” Remus said, his voice steady. It reminded Harriet of the time when he taught her the Patronus Charm.

It was another long pause, Harriet really wanted to know what was going on but she stayed quiet watching everyone there closely. Finally, the silence was broken “there have been strange incidents happening all over the country” Sirius’s expression was grim “Things haven’t been so well since the beginning of June.”

“How bad is it?” Harriet was expecting things to be bad. Hell, she laid awake almost every night contemplating what would be the condition of the wizarding world now that Voldemort was back. She thought of dozens of possible futures, and none of them were pleasant.

“There have been mysterious deaths for the last few months. The Aurors have been working around the clock, but they haven’t been able to catch the culprit.” Remus conveyed.

“Actually they did catch someone, but the murders didn’t stop. So they had to free the man and start from scratch,” Sirius said trying to be helpful.

“You say murder. How?” Harriet asked.

“So far the same curse was used. It isn’t the killing curse but something very similar. Only differences are the bodies were absolutely drained of blood and on top of that they had scorch mark around the neck and wrists.”

“Also there have been reports of Dementor attacks.”

“Dementor attacks? But aren’t Dementors controlled by the Ministry?” Harriet asked brows furrowing.

“Yes, they are. But they are still dark creatures. Ministry refused to acknowledge it was even a possibility at first, but when a group of Dementors attacked a former Ministry worker in broad daylight in the middle of Diagon Alley they couldn’t deny it anymore. Now the Ministry is claiming that it is because of the changing of an ecological system which resulted in the binding spell to weaken. But if that was the case then Dementors would have gone rampant so no one is buying that.”

“Haven’t they even considered that it could be the work of Voldemort?” Harriet was trying to get her head around all the information she was given. She wanted to know and she was glad that she wasn’t being kept in the dark anymore.

She watched as Sirius and Remus exchanged a look, they silently agreed on something and then Sirius sighed rather heavily. “You see…” Sirius started but the words seemed to be stuck in his throat.

Remus placed a hand on his arm and said “It’s best to just show her.” At that Sirius looked extremely hesitant as he nodded at Mr. Weasley who was still holding the paper. He handed a copy of the Daily Prophet to her. When she unfolded it, she didn’t know how to react. There in big bold letters ‘THE GIRL WHO LIES; FUDGE: ALL IS WELL.’

“The minster has been attacking anyone who claims that “You know who’ is back” Mr. Weasley's expression was of displeasure “And Daily Prophet has been running that story all summer so there aren’t many who believe what actually happened. They…”

“They think I am either lying to get attention or deflect suspicions?” Harriet’s tone was blank.

Remus tried to console “They are afraid and fear can make people do terrible things. Fudge is just…”

“I already knew it could be a possibility. It’s not even that surprising that most people wouldn’t want to believe that the Boogeyman is back, when they know he is gone. Voldemort is a nightmare for most people, a source of terror. I probably wouldn’t want to believe it either if I didn't see him rise with my own eyes” all of them looked stunned and Sirius’s eyes were as big as a house elf.

“Harriet…” Remus was now struggling with words. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing nor could Sirius.

Harriet ignored the looks she was getting from everyone she knew she was acting out of character. Before the tournament, her reaction to all this would have been very different. So she just carried on “The truth will come out soon enough. The only thing I am worried about is if Voldemort feels ignored he won’t be pleased about it. And if he is lying low on purpose there is a good chance he will do something to make his grand come back. And whatever it would be it won’t be pretty”

“I have to say she is more perceptive than I was led to believe” a deep voice spoke walking into the kitchen. It was a tall man wearing a purple robe.

“This is Kingsley Shacklebolt he works for the Ministry in the Auror Core” Mr. Weasley informed Harriet.

“Hello Miss Potter, it’s very nice to finally meet you.” The man offered his hand to Harriet.

“It’s nice to meet you too sir” she stood up and courteously shook the offered hand.

“Albus was right, you have a good head on your shoulders” Harriet stayed silent deep in her thoughts. While Shacklebolt moved to where Arthur was sitting and took a seat himself.

A crashing sound drew everyone's attention to a charcoal grey owl lying on the table envelope in its beak.“Bloody hell Errol” Ron cursed.

Hermione went and took the envelopes from the owl “oh look it’s our Hogwarts letters” the witch quickly distributed the letters among her friends and opened her own “it’s about time they came, been waiting for them forever,” she said in between her excited squeals.

Ron and Harriet exchanged a look while opening their own letter. They were both used to it by then but it was still funny to watch.

“We have to go to buy them today. Oh look this year’s care for magical creature’s book is by Newt Scamander and the spellbook is by Miranda Goshawk.” by now Hermione’s voice started to sound a bit squeaky.

“Yes dear that’s a very good idea,” Mrs. Weasley said “Why can’t any of you show even one-tenth of the excitement as her,” the older woman said to her boys.

“Harriet, you should get a new cauldron while we are at Diagon Alley,” Hermione said.

“Why would you need a new cauldron?” Remus asked.

“NO REASON!!!” Harriet instantly answered and threw Hermione a glare, her friend looked apologetic at her slip. No matter what Harriet wasn’t going to go anywhere near that. “So when are we going to Diagon alley” she tried to divert attention from the topic but she got a knowing look from Sirius.

“How about right after we have breakfast” Mr. Weasley suggested.

“Sounds good,” Remus said.

“You are coming with us?” Harriet asked.

“Yes, I also need to pick up some books for myself,” Remus smiled at her.

“Then it’s settled,” Mrs. Weasley said while serving the food to the table.

After breakfast, the twins, Ginny and the trio chaperoned by Molly, Arthur along with Remus left for their shopping expedition. When they arrived there, Harriet was glad to see that Diagon Alley was as lively as ever. She still remembers how awestruck she was when she came here for the first time with Hagrid. And seeing this place bustling with life made her sigh in relief.

“What happened honey? Are you feeling alright?” Mrs. Weasley asked her.

“Yes, Mrs. Weasley I am fine” Harriet put a smile on her face and reminding herself that she shouldn’t lose herself in her thoughts. She was there with her friends and she should enjoy the moment while she could.

“Oh don’t worry mate we will go to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop it will be lots more fun than just shopping for school supplies,” Ron said excitedly.

“Ronald Weasley you will do no such thing,” Mrs. Weasley said sternly to her son and the twins started chuckling until they got their very own glare from their mother.

“But mom we go there every year. But Harriet haven’t seen it yet. Last time we got to Diagon Alley together was before our 2nd year and we didn't have the time to go there because of the long line in Flourish and Blotts” Ron said to his mother pleadingly and the older woman’s expression softened a bit.

“Okay you kids can go,” Mr. Weasley said. Ron’s face lit up and he was ready to grab his best friends and go running to the shop in question right that second. But he was stopped by a farmhand on his shoulder “after we get all of your robes” his father said.

Their first stop was Gringotts. Harriet didn’t want to visit the Weasley volt, so she and Remus went to hers', while the Weasleys went to theirs. She gathered a handful of galleons in her leather pouch. She was sure she wouldn’t need that much for her school supplies but she thought it would be best to keep a little extra on hand.

They met up in front of the bank when they were done and headed to Madam Malkin's for the robes. As always Madam Malkin was an absolute menace with her floating measuring tape. At one point Harriet feared of being strangled by it but thankfully she survived. When the seamstress was done taking their measurement she tried to show the girls some new fashionable dresses which Harriet thought utterly over the top but Ginny looked practically in love with every single one of them but tried to hide her interest. They left the shop once the robes were ready.

“Okay I want all of you kids to be in Flourish and Blotts in one hour,” Mr. Weasley said.

“Just one hour?” Fred and George asked in unison.

“Yes one hour. And don’t be late,” Molly said in a tone which left no room for any argument.

They stopped by Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour on the way to the Joke Shop. When they reached there, it was crowded mostly by kids their own age. The twins promptly busied themselves with going around the shop picking up as many prank items they could.

Ron in his excitement forgot all about showing Harriet around the shop and dragged away Hermione with him to look at some trick wands, thus Harriet was left with Ginny, who did not look like she wanted to be there.

“Some brothers they are,” Ginny grumbled, “they totally abandoned me.”

Harriet chuckled at “Gin they are just a bit excited that’s all. And I am pretty sure Fred and George’s reputations as the number 1 prank stars of Hogwarts are at stake on this quest,” Ginny giggled at that.

“So should we go explore the shop for ourselves,” Harriet suggested.

“Don’t think we have much of a choice” Ginny said, a bit more cheerful. They walked around the shop looking at different prank item which Ginny showed no interest in until they reached the potions section. She picked up a pink vial that read ‘Lovey-Du-Dal-Du’ both of the girls giggled at the silly name when they noticed a disturbingly familiar blond coming their way.

“Well well well. Look who it is” Draco stood in front of them “The so-called the girl who lived or maybe I should say the girl who lied” Crabbe and Goyle snickered.

“I am surprised the Ministry is still letting you walk around free, Potter. Better enjoy it while you can, I hear there is a cell in Azkaban with your name on it” The blond threw the taunt at Harriet.

“Leave her alone, Malfoy” Ginny said protectively.

“Oh look THE GIRL WHO LIED has a GIRRRRRL FRIEND” Crabbe and Goyle laughed at that “of course it’s a blood traitor,” Draco said with a snicker of his own.

“I at least have one. Where is yours, Malfoy?” Harriet smiled at that mockingly. Draco has been using that since the second year and somewhere in that time, it has lost its effect on Harriet. Ginny was like a little sister to her and she did not care for insults like that. “Oh wait is it one of them,” she said pointedly looking at Crabbe and Goyle “My bad should have known”

“YOUUU FILTHY...” he was cut off before he could properly begin.

“Careful Malfoy, don't want your daddy dearest to think you tried to brawl like a commoner and in a public place, nonetheless” Harriet gasped dramatically “What would he think” then she got a thoughtful look on face "or maybe you are just trying to follow in his footsteps? After all, he did start a fistfight with Mr. Weasley"

“This isn't over Potter and my father will hear about this” Draco said gritting his teeth and then walked away in an astounding speed, Crabbe and Goyle following him behind.

Ginny cracked up in full-blown laughter “that was a good one.”

“Agreed sis,” said two very familiar voices in unison. Harriet didn’t have to guess who the voice belonged to. She turned around to find two very proud faces looking at her.

“Well-done Harriet” Fred and George clapped Harriet on the shoulder.

“If you were here why on earth, you didn’t help us” Ginny questioned her brothers irritatedly.

“Sis we would have jumped in if we had any doubt that Harriet couldn’t handle the blond princess,” George said.

“Besides it was too fun to watch,” Fred said as if it was the most obvious reason.

Harriet chuckled at that. “so are you two done with your hunt for the most incredible prank items”

“Not yet we just picked up some dragon crackers,” one of the twins said “and some Shade-vu-boom but we haven’t found ilibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks” then the other added, “we think it’s in the next section”

“So what about the Dungbomb and the Munch-crackers did you guys make enough of them” Harriet asked. “And what about the rest? I hope this time there is enough for all three of us, unlike last year.”

“We did” Fred informed Harriet “Don't worry our little Grasshopper” George finished with their patented grin.

“Really! I almost thought you forgot about me again and I would have to make away with your stash this time too.” Harriet said with a straight face.

“That's not necessary little Grasshopper” the twins rubbed their head sheepishly in unison.

“You know I always thought you guys can make a lot of money on everything you make. Maybe you guys should open a shop” Harriet said.

“Well that is the plan but…” Fred trailed off “But Mom will never let Dad give us even a Sickle for it” George finished.

“How about you get an investor” Harriet suggested.

“Who will invest in an idea like that” Ginny asked.

“I will!” Harriet volunteered, raising her hand “We have always been partners in crime why not in this too”

“We couldn’t take your money,” Fred said “it wouldn’t feel right” George clarified.

“Hai, I am talking about an investment, not a handout, so that would mean I would be a partner who shares some of the profit” Harriet explained.

“That sounds awesome” Fred and George cheered “how about 3 equal cuts”

“How about 20-40-40 as you two will be doing all the work I think both of you should have a bigger cut of the profit” Harriet smiled at them.

“We don’t know what to say” the twin said in unison their voices a bit softer.

“You guys don’t have to say anything. I will miss you two as it is after you graduate this way I will at least hear from you once in a while” Harriet sighed, she really will miss the knuckleheads.

“Ahh don’t worry about that, you won’t even know we are gone” Fred and George said jokingly but they both gave Harriet a one-armed hug.

“Doubt that,” Harriet said skeptically.

“The Malfoy is here with his two minions” Ron said running up to them Hermione following right behind.

“We know. He already made his appearance here” Ginny said little annoyed both at the blond prick and his older brothers for leaving her behind.

“Don’t worry we dealt with him already,” Harriet said to her best friends and both of them looked relieved at that.

“See I told you she will be just fine” Hermione said.

“But Mione you were the one who dragged me back here because you were worried about Harriet” Ron said in a jokingly timid voice and everyone cracked up at that. Hermione’s cheeks turned scarlet red.

“Ok guys I need to go buy something,” Harriet said.

“What?” Ron asked.

“A new Cauldron” the twins claimed in unison.

“Yah” Harriet admitted hanging her head, and everyone cracked up.

“I will meet all of you in Flourish and Blotts once I am done,” Harriet said to the group.

“Wait, I will come with you” Ginny said before Harriet could leave the shop “I don’t want to hang here all by myself besides its so boring here” all three of the boys gasped dramatically at that and the laughter seemed to continue.

“Sure let’s go then” Harriet said clearing her throat in an in vain try to contain her chuckles.

They went to the Potage's Cauldron Shop and got a standard Cauldron. Then while they were at it they stopped by Slug & Jiggers Apothecary for the potion ingredients. After they were done they headed to Flourish and Blotts. Remus was already standing in front of the book store when they got there.

“Where are the others?” Remus asked.

“They are on their way” Harriet said hoping they wouldn’t be late “we should go in and start looking, weren’t you saying you need some books for yourself”

It was humming with the soft sound of conversations around when they entered the shop. When Ginny spotted some girls from her own year, she wandered off to chat with them. While Remus busied himself looking for the books he wanted.

And Harriet went around picking up the books listed for 5th years. Once she was done she started looking for some more books on defense against the dark arts and charms. She loved the books Dobby brought her but wanted to pick some for herself. So she picked up a few charms books which looked promising to her then she moved on to look for some DADA books. There were so many titles like Dance with Dragons, Dueling like the master, Best time to strike while the iron is hot, everything about the ‘Flooalr’ spell. And it wasn't surprising that Harriet was absolutely confused about which ones she should get. She was so focused on the books and making a choice she bumped into someone dropping all of the books she was holding in her arms right on top of her foot. She yelped grabbing her toe in pain.

“Are you alright little lady” when Harriet looked up she found a man with silver hair was standing there. He looked no older than Sirius and wore a well-tailored casual robe.

“I am fine” Harriet replied fixing her glasses back in place. She immediately apologized when she noticed there were more books on floor then she originally had on her hands. Apparently she had knocked out his books as well as her own.

“No worries about this.” the stranger said, “Can you stand little lady” He offered her his hand like a gentleman.

“Yes” Harriet took the offered hand and stood up. Then he picked up their books and handed her ones she was carrying.

“Thank you and I am so sorry” Harriet said, a bit embarrassed.

“It’s alright” the man gave her a genuine smile “I couldn’t help but noticing you were caring mostly masters level books but you look too young to be a master’s apprentice”

“Umm… I am still in school, a 5th year. I was just interested in those”

“Are you by any chance in Hogwarts?”

“I am”

“Amazing! Does Professor Filius Flitwick still teach Charms?”

“Yap, did you go to Hogwarts too”

“Absolutely. But it has been a while since I last visited though. So you are interested in charms?”

“Yes, I am actually,” Harriet said smiling.

“Perfect, then have you read the Veneficium-Alovina by Edwin Carpenter”

“I don’t think so”

“Then you should take a look at that one” he picked a book off a high shelf and handed it to her.

“Thank you” Harriet looked at the purple cover of the book. The name of the author was in a way bigger letters than the title itself.

“You are welcome little lady” saying that the man walked away. And Harriet realized she never asked for his name or even introduced herself. She smiled at the odd encounter and moved on to her hunt. Harriet picked out a few more books and went to pay for them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were talking to another couple near the shopkeeper. Remus was standing in line with as many books as her and he gave an approving nod at the books she was carrying.

“Harriet, where have you been? We were looking for you,” Hermione said walking up to them followed by three redheads. Somehow she had even more books then Remus and her combined. And Harriet was sure most of the books in Ron’s arms also belonged to the brunet witch.

“Sorry about that Hermione” Harriet apologized.

“It’s alright. I found you the book you wanted” Hermione said enthusiastically.

“Look at her Mione she already has enough books” Ron pointed out and got a glare from the studious witch. The twins cracked up laughing at the scene. Harriet herself couldn’t stifle her giggle.

Once they were done with making their purchase Molly and Arthur along with Ginny came and they all left for 12 Grimmauld Place.

**AN:** Yes Yes I made up most of the names of the books. I had to (lol) couldn't find many that I could use. And OH Oh look a mysterious encounter, wonder who he is? Let me know what you think about him. See ya next weeks lovelies.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Another Sunday (Lets out a long sigh). For most of you its the weekends but for me its the start of the week. So it's basically Monday for me and here I am posting another chapter. (Shaking my head) yap I have gone crazy. 

A very Happy New Year To all of you. 

**Chapter.3**

Rest of the week flew by in a flash and September 1st came sooner than anticipated. The whole week she spent catching up with her friends, investigating the black library, getting teased by Sirius for it and roping him into sitting down and reading with her. Even though he valiantly tried to act as if he wanted to be anywhere but in a room filled with shelves and shelves of books, Harriet didn't miss his fond little smiles. And some time half way through the week Remus started to come and join them. 

Having this time with her godfather and her honorary uncle was absolutely amazing for her. And she hated to see it come to an end. So the night before September 1st she was found sitting on a couch, tucked in between the two men in the black library listening to Moony read some book. This felt like home to her being there with her parent figures, feeling safe and warm. She wondered, only for a moment does this is what most children get to have. She was never a clingy child growing up, maybe because she never had the chance to be a child but right now she didn't want to let go of this fuzzy feeling in her chest and absolutely wanted to cling to it. But eventually, no matter how much she wanted the time to stay still, it did what time does best and kept on moving. And even though it was near midnight she was reluctant to let the spell break.

“Pup I think you should go up to bed” Remus said closing his book.

“But Moony, not tired yet” both Harriet and Sirius whined in unison.

Remus shook his head chuckling at their antics “Says the people with droopy eyes”

“I will have you know Mr. Moony that Droopy Eyes are in fashion right now,” Sirius said flattering his eyes at Remus. Which made all three of them burst out in laughter. “But Moony’s right, you should go to bed. You have a long day tomorrow” he said ruffling her hair.

“Don't wanna, and I can sleep on the train. Please can’t we stay up just a bit longer” Harriet said pouting and pulling out her puppy dog eyes. Which successfully melted the both of the marauders.

“Alright, alright just half an hour” Remus said, his smile soft.

“Good Morgana!!! Those eyes are deadly” Harriet heard her dogfather mutter under his breath. But she ignored it and cuddled up more. So Remus just reopened his book and started to read at a low volume to his captive audience. And some time later all three of them were found asleep on that couch snuggling.

In the morning they woke up to the yelling of Mrs. Weasley. Who was trying to herd all of her children to some sort of order and as per usual the poor woman was struggling to wake up her youngest son. And when Harriet heard the older woman roar ‘Ronald Bilius Weasley’, she just knew her best friend had kept with the tradition and did not pack his trunk. She cracked up but her mirth died a swift death when she saw Hermione standing at the door and giving her an unimpressed look. Harriet vacated the room so fast that not even her shadow was left behind and she got ready in record time, much to everyone’s amusement. 

After all the drama and much hilarity, Harriet and the gang managed to reach the King's Cross station right it the neck of time and all of them ran to platform 9 ¾ to catch their ride on the Hogwarts express. The train was scheduled for departure at 11 o'clock and it was almost half past 10.

Mrs. Weasley was determined to get all of them on board the train in time and muttered something about the flying car under her breath. She waved at them when all of them were safely on board the train and all of them waved back at Mrs. Weasley. Harriet did so as well but her eyes were on the ginger haired man and the black dog next to him as well as on Molly. Harriet was giddy with excitement and overjoyed because for the first time ever someone was there to see her off. She appreciated the love and care Molly always showed her, treating her like one of her own children but having Remus and Sirius there made it extra special.

The only thing that bothered her was Sirius not being able to stand there in his human form. Where was the justice that a rat like Peter Pettigrew walked free but her godfather an innocent man being stuck like this hunted by the Dementors relentlessly, convicted of a crime he didn't commit and on top of that so many years were stolen from him. It wasn’t fair but then again life is hardly fair. But she had promised herself a while ago she will make it right no matter what.

Harriet was still waving when she was pulled away from the door frame of the train by Ron “Let’s go mate or we won’t find an empty compartment”

Harriet gave a quick nod and followed Hermione and Ron to a compartment which was thankfully empty. They sat down after their luggage safely stowed away on top of their seats.

Hermione propped opened a book and Ron brought out the chess board “Care for a game mate?”

“Sure why not” Harriet sat down in front of the chess board. So they started a game and chatted about this and that until it reached the topic of upcoming tryouts of Quidditch.

“I can’t believe it Ginny already made the team” Ron huffed “And on top of that she didn’t even have to tryout”

“What can I say she was really impressive so Oliver wanted her to be a chaser for us” Harriet said with a smile. She was really proud of Ginny for making the team “Any way you are going to try out this year; aren’t you?”

“Hell yah I am” Ron grinned as his bishop took out Harriet’s Queen “you are looking at Gryffindor’s soon to be Keeper and that’s checkmate”

“How did you… agh never mind” Harriet sighed looking at her chess pieces who were giving her stink eyes for losing.

“Care for another game mate?” Ron gave her a full toothed grin.

“No thanks. I had enough beating for one day” Harriet threw her hands up in the air in surrender.

“Do you want to play Mione” Ron looked at the bookish witch with hopeful glittering eyes.

“No Ron I don’t want to be your next victim” Hermione gave the red head the answer with a straight face.

“Spoilsport” Ron said with a fake pout and all three of them started chuckling.

Harriet went and sat by the window watching as the sceneries passed by, humming to herself she let her mind wander. Ron gave up on the chess set and now he was sitting beside Hermione talking about something. Harriet smiled to herself at that. She really liked how her best friends looked together. In her humble opinion, they were perfect for each other. 

Eventually, she decided to close her eyes and let herself drift away to the land of dreams. She found herself walking by a lake toward a castle. It was as big as Hogwarts but it almost felt like home to her. So she kept on walking but suddenly something caught her eye, which made her stop. She crouched down to take a better look at the object. As curious as she was by nature she couldn’t help herself. When she picked it up and examined it closely she realised it was a silver ring and its design was breathtaking. The ring almost looks like two serpents wrapped around each other, and their eyes were made out of green gemstone. 

For some reason, it looked familiar to her as though she has seen it many times in her life. So she decided to put it on and when she did she felt a pull. The next thing she knew she was standing in a room filled with frames of portraits but there were nothing but landscapes in them. As if the people in them just up and left their frames, like wizarding portraits often were in the habit of doing. 

She heard footsteps coming toward her, which made her turn around. There was a man standing in elaborate robes like lord of a gone by era. He stopped at a distance from her and started to speak. She tried really hard to listen to what he was saying but couldn’t hear it. Instead, she heard Hermione’s voice calling for her and her eyes flew open.

As she opened her eyes, she found Hermione and Ron was really close to her face.

“What happened?” Harriet asked while rubbing her eyes.

“Mate, were you having a nightmare again?” Ron’s voice was alarmed.

“No” Harriet said rubbing her eyes.

“Harriet you really looked like it” worry was clearly showing on Hermione’s face.

“It was just a weird dream. Sorry for scaring you two”

“Its okay mate” Ron grinned

“We are almost there, you should go change into your robes” Hermione told her getting back to her seat.

Harriet excitedly got up and looked out of the window. Her smile was bright. When they got off the train Harriet started looking around.

“Mate, what are you looking for?” Ron asked. 

“I don’t see Hagrid anywhere” she started walking but looking above everyone’s head for a glimpse of the friendly giant. She hoped her clever little tactic will help her find her larger friend quicker when she suddenly crashed into something and went down taking whatever it was with her. Even though she fell, she didn’t get hurt instead she felt something firm underneath her and heard a number of people gasped around her.

“Miss. Potter can’t you ever look where you are going” it was a very calm voice but it chilled her blood. When she finally realized what she crashed on to or in this case whom she crashed onto she just wanted to disappear.

“Pro… Pro… professor Sa… Snape!!!” she could barely get the words out of her lips “I AM SO SORRY” her voice still cracked when she finally got those words out.

“Get. Off. Me. Potter” his voice was not louder than before but Harriet could hear the fury in it. At the same time, she noticed she was on top of him, actually she was practically sitting on him. She jumped off of him faster than a bunny would jump out of an open fire. Snape stood up clearly irritated while Hermione helped her get up on her feet.

Harriet panicked “I am so sorry Professor. It was an accident. I truly didn’t mean to…”

“Tackle me down” Snape bit out, irritation clear on his face.

“I… I…” she wanted to kick herself for the idiocy.

“Detention” his voice was low but frightening nonetheless “for a week”

“Bu..t, but pro… professor” her voice was pleading.

“Do you wish to serve 2 weeks of detention instead?”

“No sir” Harriet hung her head. Snape threw one last glare at her as he dusted his black robes and walked away.

“Brilliant I got detention before even reaching Hogwarts” she couldn’t believe her luck.

“At least you didn’t get hexed mate” Ron said with a joking tone and both of the witches looked at him in unison “Too soon?” Ron asked. 

Hermione nodded her head as she gently patted Harriet in the back. Then they walked to the carriages. Harriet was cursing herself every step of the way. They got on to the very last carriage and settled down. Harriet heard a lot of chit-chat around her but she wasn’t in the mood to join in.

“Are you okay?” A sweet dreamy voice asked Harriet. She picked her head up and looked sideways then she noticed a blond girl sitting beside her.

“Harriet this is Loony… I mean Luna Lovegood” Hermione flashed in embarrassment at her blender and tried to pretend that she almost didn't introduce the blond as ‘Loony’.

“It’s nice to meet you Luna. I am Harriet” she gave her a warm smile and got one in return. Luna and Harriet started talking and before long they reached Hogwarts

“Another year of adventure. Huh!! Mate” Ron said with a wide grin. He got an unimpressed look from Hermione for his troubles. But it did the job of bringing up Harriet’s mood and she smiled as she walked into the great hall. The trio went and took their usual seats at the Gryffindor’s table. Harriet looked around the Great hall when her eyes got stuck on one particular teacher and boy did he looked furious or what.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” Ron asked following her gaze.

“Snape” Harriet felt doomed “he is going to put me into a potion as ingredients, isn’t he?”

Ron laughed “Probably” that earned him a stern look from Hermione. He stopped laughing immediately.

“Harriet don’t worry it’s not going to be that bad” Hermione tried to comfort her friend. Harriet just nodded but it didn't look like she believed. 

Like every year professor McGonagall brought in all the first years and help them sort into their new houses. All the new Gryffindors were accepted into the house with open arms. Following the sorting Professor Dumbledore came forward and started to give the usual speech he gave every year. Harriet took great comfort in that she smiled and listened as the old wizard carried on with his speech.

“Now it’s time to welcome back our defense against the dark art teacher Professor Gilderoy Lockhart” Harriet and Ron’s eyes almost came out their eye socket.

“Bloody hell!!! What is that clown doing back in Hogwarts” Ron almost choked on his pumpkin juice

“I have no idea” Harriet was just as shocked 

“Didn’t he accidentally wiped all of his memory when his memory charm backfired on him” Ron sputtered “How in the name of Merlin and Morgana did he recover from that?”

“Again no idea” Harriet said trying to figure that out herself.

“Didn’t he used OBLIVIATE” Hermione asked and the other two nodded “As far as I know that particular charm can be broken by powerful magic or extreme duress but if the charm is too powerful, it can cause the target to develop a bad memory. Which is different from the False Memory Charm” even though Hermione gave them an explanation, Harriet and Ron kept looking at Lockhart almost not hearing anything.

“Great we have to take DADA classes from that fraud again,” Ron said irritated while everyone clapped and welcomed Lockhart back.

Harriet tried to imagine how that year would turn out but she did not see anything good in her near future.

AN: Oh My!! Lockheart's back. Hopefully, he won't be too much trouble for our favorite witches and wizards. ;)

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

AN: Yeah... I Kind of forgot to post this chapter even though this was already done... hi.. hi.. hi 

So I am just gonna leave this here. Enjoy (Runs away in full speed)

**Chapter.4**

Harriet found herself looking up at a very bright full moon in the middle of the dark sky. Somehow the moon seemed a lot bigger than usual and its soft, gentle light illuminated everything. She felt the breeze of wind flowing in a soothing rhythm making the leaves move in a symphony.

Taking in her surroundings, she realized she was once more standing by the lake. For a moment a thought crossed her, but before she could catch it, the thought left her.

Harriet felt something cold in her fist. So she brought her hand closer to her to take a look. A smile bloomed on her lips once she saw the familiar ring. It glowed and shined in the palm of her hand. She wondered to herself as she stared at it how on earth did it come to her possession. She didn't remember having it before. She still felt that pull toward it as though it was finally where it belonged.

"Does it meet your fancy?" A voice came floating toward Harriet. It startled her and she turned around to find the owner of it. A long dark haired man with pale skin walked toward her. "Did I startle you," the man said playfully.

"Who are you?" Harriet asked looking into his emerald green eyes.

"You already know me." The man said as the corner of his lips curved into a smile, "You didn't answer me. Do you like it" the man asked gesturing toward the ring

"Yes. It's beautiful"

"Then you need to find it"

Confused Harriet looked at the ring in her palm "But I already have it"

Then suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her hand. She leaped up and looked around and found herself in her bed. Hedwig had one of her fingers in her beak. She jerked her finger away from the owl.

"Hedwig that hurt, I told you not to wake me up like that." Harriet said to her feathery alarm clock, who has yet again snuck in her dorms. But Hedwig paid no mind to her owner and flew back to her bird stand. Once she was settled on her favorite seat she looked back as if saying "My job is done".

Harriet shook her head at her adorable snow-white owl. She couldn't stay mad at it even if she tried. Then she took her glasses from her bed stand and put it on the bridge of her nose, the room became a lot clearer which she shared with Hermione and the other girls. The room was just like the rest of the dorm in Gryffindor tower. It was large and spacious with gray stone walls and decorated with red curtains. The room had five beds with bedside tables on either side of them and a trunk at the feet of each bed.

“Harriet, you are still in bed?” Hermione asked, coming out of the shower her hair still dripping wet.

“I am up,” Harriet announced.

“Then get out of bed and get dressed. I don’t want to be late on the first day of the term. Plus I am sure Ron is waiting for us downstairs”

Harriet gave her friend a small nod. She really wanted to tease the witch about certain ‘someone’ but she felt it wasn’t wise to do that just yet. With a wicked grin she got out of her bed and went to the washroom. She went through her morning routine as fast as she could and came out fully dressed in record time.

Ron was indeed waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He grinned when he saw them. Harriet wondered if it was her imagination that Ron's eyes seemed to linger on Hermione. She certainly hoped not.

“You guys took your sweet time coming down. I am dying of starvation over here” Ron said dramatically

“Don’t die just yet. The promised land of breakfast is not far” Harriet said equally dramatically and both of them started laughing.

Hermione rolled her eyes at them “If we don’t get a move on we really will be late”

When they reached the Great Hall it was full with all students and buzzed with cheerful conversations. They went and sat on their usual seat at the Gryffindor table. Hermione propped open a book as soon as they sat down and Ron started to pile up food in his plate.

Harriet hummed a happy tune as she took some sandwiches on her plate. A silly smile was plastered to her lips.

"Someone looks cheerful today. Slept well?" Ron asked in between putting sausages in his mouth.

"Yap, I had a good dream" Harriet's voice echoed with her pleasant mood.

"What kind of dream" Ron asked curiously.

"I..." Harriet tried to remember but for some reason, she couldn't. She knew it was a pleasant dream but more than that she wasn't sure "I don't know." Ron chuckled at the answer and went back to eating.

Harriet was still in a good mood but she tried a bit harder to remember her dream. She knew it was something good. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember it. Every time she was about to recall it she felt like she was hitting into a wall and couldn't reach it.

Finally, she gave up, after all it was just a dream it wasn't anything important she reasoned with herself. She took a bite out of her sandwich while she looked around and noticed professor McGonagall was moving along the table handing out the course schedule.

“Here is your schedule Miss Potter” McGonagall handed her a parchment when she reached where the trio was sitting “Oh and over fifteen hopefuls have already signed up their names for the try outs this year. As you will be the captain this year you will be the one in charge of it. Hopefully we will find enough good players to fill all the vacant positions”

“Yes, ma'am” Harriet said, knowing that she had a lot to live up to or Wood will definitely come back to kill her. 

“I'll hand the list over in due course and you can schedule trials before Halloween" McGonagall walked away saying that.

“Oh man I can’t wait for the try outs” Ron said excitedly

“Yeah, me neither,” Harriet said as she looked at her course schedule and froze. Her pleasant mood started to fade. Their first class was with bloody Lockhart.

"You have to be kidding me" Ron was more irritated by it than anyone else.

"I don't think they are" Her eyes drifted toward the high table and saw a very smug Lockhart annoying the other teachers around him.

Suddenly she heard two voices which brought her attention back to the table where Fred and George was standing "So Harriet we heard something very interesting"

"What?" Harriet gave them a puzzled look.

"You know!!" both of the twins grinned. "You, tackling down the dungeon bat" Fred said as George added "and making him see stars" both twins started to chuckle mischievously "As the raining pranksters of Hogwarts we commend you on your bravery. Only if we were the one who thought of it first" the twin said as if they missed a chance to do something legendary.

"I did not tackle him down I just slipped and fell" Harriet cringed, remembering her detention and she did not share the same sentiment. For the love of everything good, She.Did.Not. Do. It. On Purpose. or out of bravery "It was just an accident"

The twins only grinned clearly not believing her "Yah Harriet it was JUST AN ACCIDENT" and winked at her.

Harriet tried her best to convince her fellow Gryffindor trick-stars but of course they didn't believe her. What else she could expect from her two partners in crime, she had pulled off enough pranks with them that they probably wouldn't put it past her.

But then again they should know she would never try to pull anything on the potion's master. Not after what happened last year. He was the scariest teacher around and she had already pissed him off enough. 

She blew up half of his class room when her cauldron exploded. True it wasn't her fault as some Slytherins thought it would be hilarious to switch their Gurdyroot with Molockroot and on top of that she was partnered up with Neville Longbottom. Who after the fact apologized to her over and over thinking it was his fault. But Snape as usual thought she was the culprit. That day she not only got a month of detention but also lost Gryffindor 100 house points. To say that her housemates were not happy with her would have been an understatement.

The twins ruffled her hair and walked away. Harriet sighed and put her half eaten toast down, her apatite was completely gone now. She wasn't sure what was worse, the detention with the terrifying Potion's master or her very first class of the year with the lustrous liar who almost wiped her and Ron's memory clean in their 2nd year.

"Are you alright Harriet? Your face is looking pale. Are you feeling sick?" Hermione asked, when she noticed her down turned face. 

"I am fine," Harriet quickly replied.

Hermione stood up gathering her books, she looked at both of her friends one looking as pale as a ghost and another still chomping down on the food "We should get going. The class will be starting soon."

Harriet looked up at the witch and thought to herself why she had to get out of bed this morning. She was so comfy there, wrapped up in her blanket burrito and the wonderful dream she had was so nice too. If she had known she would have stayed there. But it wasn't an option. If she did that she would worry a lot of people around her. She had no choice but to face this head on after all the best way out of anything was always through it. So she stood up and gathered her own things.

"Aren't you coming" Hermione asked the red-headed boy.

"Can't I just skip it?" Ron asked hopefully. 

"No you can't" Hermione said sternly.

"What's the point that Glid-blow will only prattle on about half blacked stories about the thing he supposedly had done? He is not going to teach us anything remotely useful." 

"That's beside the point. We like it or not, he is our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and we have to attend his classes." Hermione said but it sounded a bit forced.

"We are all doomed if we count on his knowledge to protect us against the dark arts. He is a bloody fraud. He told us that himself, he never actually had done anything. He only took credit for what other wizards did, after he used memory charms on them. I still can't figure out, how did he manage to get this job back" Ron said irritatedly.

"That's something I have been wondering too" Harriet said looking at the head table.

"You can think about it after the class but right now we have to go" Hermione repeated herself.

"Come on Mione, don't tell me you are not curious yourself!" Ron asked Hermione, well aware of the fact how curious the witch was by nature.

"I never said I wasn't" Hermione's words brought a dopey smile to Ron's face. 

"Now get up cause we are going to class"

"But Mione!" Ron whined.

"No more buts" Hermione cut him off. Then she dragged the freckled boy out of the great hall as Harriet followed behind dragging her feets.

Entering the classroom 3c also known as Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they found it decorated with lots and lots of portraits of no other than Gilderoy Lockhart, so the room ended up looking more like an art gallery than a classroom. 

Harriet sighed as she glanced around. Now more than ever she missed her 3 rd year when Remus was their DADA teacher.

Hermione went and sat with Pravati on the front, while Harriet and Ron sat together in the middle of the row.

“I bet 10 Galleons he is going to bring the pixies again” Ron grumbled.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought trolls to the class” Harriet muttered just as annoyed. Why did she had to waste her time sitting in the class of the most incompetent DADA teacher of Hogwart's history when more than ever she needed to learn to defend herself for her very survival was beyond her.

Before long they saw Lockhart gliding out of his office. He was wearing ivory robes, no one would say this man was admitted in ST Mungo’s for having absolutely no memories whatsoever. Smiling showing off all of his perfect white teeth as he came to the front of the class.

“Settle down, settle down. I know all of you are very excited to have your favorite professor back” he said to the whole class even though no one was making any sound except for maybe a few girls giggling when they thought Lockhart glanced at them.

“I know, I know all of you must have been wondering why I had left my position at Hogwarts” his smile grew as if he was trying to hide a spicy little secret “the simple truth of the matter is I was called upon for my vest knowledge on Dark arts to deal with a certain situation” he winked at his class.

Harriet and Ron were looking at him in disbelief. Lockhart was yet again lying to everyone and passing himself off as the second coming of Merlin who had never seen defeat. They were very much regretting their decision to not tell anyone about the part where that smug blond idiot cursed himself when he tried to attack them.

“Enough about me I know all of you would rather listen to me talk about all of my adventures but it’s time to advance to our lessons after all I am not here to only show off my handsome face” he gave another wide smile displaying his white teeths. It made few of the girls swoon over it while Harriet found it extremely creepy.

“Today I will be teaching you about the vampires and Strigoi. Strigois are one of the darkest and most frightening creatures we know of. I should know as I fought off dozens of them a few years ago to valiantly defend a small town of Egypt” at that comment Harriet and Ron shared a look at each other it was so obvious to them that it was nothing more than another one of his tall tales.

“Now who can tell me what a vampire is?” Lockhart asked the class flashing his extremely white teeth yet again.

Unsurprisingly Hermione’s hand instantly shot up in the air “Vrikolaus or vampire is a type of beings who consume blood to sustain, increase and amplify their magical core. They have a longer lifespan than most other kinds but they are not immortal. Though they need blood to survive on some degree, that’s usually shared between bonded mates that’s why they are not categorized as dark creatures. Rather than when they are considered as pure blooded wizards by the law of the ministry” when Hermione finished Lockhart looked taken aback by it and Ron was fighting to keep a smirk off his face.

“Goo...Good miss Granger” Lockhart before he cleared his throat and continued pretending the brown eyed witch said nothing of value. The class went on and of course Lockhart went on and on how he single handedly saved a whole town from the invasion of a group Strigoi going to great length on gruesome details of how he killed them.

Hermione kept trying to say something she held her hand up in the air several times but she was ignored every time. Finally the bell rang indicating the class has ended. Harriet allowed a sigh of relief but by then Hermione’s cheeks were bright red it was clear she was very annoyed and angry with Lockhart’s lecture.

Harriet watched as her friend gathered her books and left the class room before anyone else. She was about to follow after her curly haired friend when Lockhart came in front of her and stood blocking her way.

“Miss Harriet” the overly flashy man said with a smile, “Miss Harriet, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Harriet looked at the man in confusion and before she could give her consent he had already started speaking “I wanted to apologize to you for my actions during the Slytherin’s true heir incident. I know, I know you looked up to me as your role model, your hero but in a moment of weakness I showed you a very unattractive side of me”

Harriet looked at the man in shock. When did she ever consider this Narcissus of a man her role model? Speechless she silently asked herself what was going on. Ron came and stepped beside her, he too looked baffled by it.

“I know what you are thinking, why would a wizard of my pristine with all of my accomplishments apologize to one of his students. The truth is I want you to be able to look at me with same admiration once more” Lockhart put a hand on Ron’s shoulder when the red head tried to say something “Now you two should run along for your next class or Professor Sprout would think your fondness for my class is far greater than hers” he gave one of a kind most annoying Gilderoy Lockhart chuckle.

Harriet and Ron both remembered they were late for their Herbology class. So they hastily left the room to reach the green house.

Harriet, still stunned at Lockhart’s words, half jogged and half ran to the greenhouse. Even though they hurried, the class had already started. Professor Sprout was holding a strange looking plant in her hand, which had star shaped leaves with blue flowers. And Hermione was in the middle of explaining what the plant was used for.

The two late students sneaked in and stood at the back of the group to keep from being noticed by the professor.

Harriet only half paid attention to the class, she was busier with watching Hermione. She looked upset and considering they were at class especially on their first day back it was highly unusual. That worried Harriet a bit but she didn’t get much time to concentrate on that as they were all told to prepare a pot to plant the star leafed plant. By the time they were finished Harriet was covered in potting soil and smelled worse than a week old tuna.

So after the class ended she went back to the dorms for a quick shower before heading out for transfiguration. Following that was double potions with Slytherins which of course went horribly. Lastly was Quidditch practice before dinner. All things considered her day wasn’t going that bad but watching Hermione with a long face didn’t sit right with her.

After dinner they sat in their empty common room. They were the first one to leave the great hall so there was still a little time before all of the students would return and also Harriet’s Detention with Snape. So all three of them sat around the room while Hermione sat too quite slowly leafing her book rather than reading it.

“Bloody Marlins how self centered can a man be” Ron exclaimed in exasperation “What accomplishment? Did he forget we already know he stole credit for what people did?” 

“Probably along with what he tried to do to us, hell I wouldn’t be surprised if that blond peacock claimed to be Marline himself tomorrow” Harriet was completely annoyed. Ron laughed out at that, changing his mood for better.

“Yah mate can you believe that he actually told us that stupid story about him taking on dozens of Strigois” that got a slight reaction out of Hermione. The brunette witch gave them both an icy glare.

“Oh come on Mione no one believes that clown actually fought a herd of Strigois” Ron said.

“Yah Hermione we know he was lying, just spinning a tall tale to boost his ego. He can’t possibly defeat a dark creature that strong” Harriet said jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

Hermione on the other hand didn’t smile at the joke instead she slightly shook her head “That’s not it Harriet. Strigoi are considered victim themselves”

“What do you mean?” Harriet asked in shock. She was sure her friend was upset with them because they were dishing out insults at Lockhart after all her crush on the man in their 2 nd year was quite infamous.

Hermione sighed, there was something sad in her voice “No one chooses to turn Strigoi and also it is extremely rare.”

“So it doesn’t happen that often?” Harriet asked

“No Harriet it doesn’t. Also Strigois are Vampires who have lost their humanity. It's considered a disease, a fate worse than death.” Hermione explained.

Harriet looked at her best friend stunned “but aren’t vampires supposed to do all of those anyway. You know like to drink blood, killing people and stuff”

“No that’s the muggle picture of a Vampire. That description fits Strigois more than Vampires” Ron completely sobered up as he shares the information. It was obvious he was also shocked that Hermione was upset about that rather than all the insults thrown to Lockhart.

“But…” Harriet wasn’t sure how to form the question. Frankly she was really confused on top of that she was concerned about Hermione.

“Harriet Vampires are highly respected in the wizarding world because of their strength and longevity. But their strength does not reach its potential without a proper bond. The bond lets them share their magic with their bond mate while amplifying their own and also providing a much needed stability to their magical core to help control their magic. When they stay without one for far too long or loose their bond they risk losing their humanity and turning Strigoi.” Hermione looks at the closed book on her lap “So you see it happened because of lack of a bond or sometimes in extreme cases betrayal of a bond.”

“If it’s a disease then isn’t there a cure for it” Harriet thought out loud.

“No there isn’t and when it does happen they are…” Hermione choked up “The Ministry and The Council makes sure they don’t suffer for too long” she looked like she was about to cry.

“Oh Mione” Ron whispered.

“I am sorry Hermione I really didn’t know.” Harriet went up to her friend and gave her a hug. Ron joined them before too long. They stayed like that for a bit before Harriet let her arms fall as she slowly backed away while Ron hugged the brunette tightly to his chest.

Harriet knew Hermione was one of the kindest souls around, easily moved by the pain of others but still, she didn’t like seeing her pain. At the same time watching her two best friends find something special in each other warmed her heart.

So she quietly left the common room, so as not to disturb them and headed to her detention a little earlier than necessary.

An: Yap I have my own version of vampires (lol).

Don't forget to leave a comment on your way out. **Toodles :3**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** It's nearly 1 am and I am as awake as an owl. Wonder if Hedwig will help me throw a party for other owls. Oops, we can't!! Social distancing and all that jazz right! (I wanna go out so baaaaaad)

On a Happier note here is a new chapter for your enjoyment. Don't forget to leave a comment on your way out :D

**Chapter.5**

Monday morning, Harriet was slumping over her plate completely gracelessly. She felt absolutely drained after an entire week of detention with Snape the grumpy potion’s master of Hogwarts. To make things worse, he was in an extra foul mood the whole week and Harriet had to face the brunt of it. How can someone be constantly in a bad mood around the clock, was beyond her. But she was glad that it is over now and hopefully she won’t get another detention any time soon. 

Harriet snorted and shook her head, who was she kidding with her track record and luck she will end up in detention before she could say ‘quidditch’. She sighed heavily at the horrible thought. 

“Harriet, are you feeling alright?” Hermione asked from beside her.

“Yeah I am fine” Harriet said.

“Are you sure? You were up pretty late last night.” Hermione asked looking straight at Harriet “And you hardly eaten anything”

“I am not that hungry” Harriet replied, pushing away her half-empty plate.

“Mate are you having those nightmares again?” Ron asked her from across the table.

“Actually I haven't had a single nightmare since we got back,” Harriet said. It’s not like she didn’t have any dreams while she slept, she did have them and rather every night but none of them could be called a nightmare even though she couldn’t recall any of them. And whenever she tried hard to remember them she felt like she was hitting a wall so she gave up. She was just happy all of those horrible nightmares weren’t ambushing her any more.

“That’s amazing mate, it's almost like Hogwarts is watching over” Ron said with a big smile.

“Yeah” Harriet giggled at the idea. “And Hermione don’t be such a worrywart, I am perfectly fine.” Harriet said, giving her friends a bright smile.

Hermione smiled back at her “alright but if you start to feel even a little sick you have to go see Madam Pomfrey right away.”

“I will!” Harriet replied.

“On that note, Hermione can I please take a peek at your potions homework” Ron asked with a goofy grin on his face “pretty please”

“No way” Hermione flat out refused and Ron’s face fell from the shock.

Harriet giggled at that, she didn’t understand why it would still shock him, it’s not like the bookish witch has ever let them copy her homework before.

“What!! Why?” Ron asked

“Because I told you to get yours done a million times last Friday but you didn’t listen” Hermione said and huffed

“Aww… Mionee” Ron whined.

“No means no!” Hermione said sternly.

“Fine then” Ron sighed as if he was giving up, then his grin was back decorating his face once more “Mate would you mind letting me have a quick peek at yours”

“Rooooon” Hermione called out at the redhead in disbelief.

“Sure” Harriet took out a parchment from her bag and handed it to Ron “Here you go”

“Harriet don’t spoil him so much” Hermione shook her head disapprovingly at her.

“Thanks mate you are the best” Ron happily took the parchment and unfolded it. Then after a few moments he looked up from it “Umm mate I don’t think...”

Hermione snatched the parchment from Ron’s hands and glanced it over “Harriet this is your charms homework not potions”

“What?!” Harriet looked inside her bag “How could that be?”

“Mate; are you sure you finished it?” Ron asked in a sympathetic tone.

“Yeah I got it done last night. This can’t be happening to me!! I just got out of detention yesterday I can’t get another one already” Harriet said looking frantically for the right parchment.

“Calm down Harriet. If you got it done then it must be here somewhere” Hermione pointed out.

“No, I can’t find it.” Harriet started shaking her book bag upside down.

“Relax” Hermione petted Harriet in the back soothingly “now try to remember where you left it after you finished last night”

Harriet took a deep breath “I… maybe on the desk or on the bed stand… I am not sure”

“If you left it in our room or even if in the common room you could just go and get it. There is still some time before our class starts” Hermione said.

Harriet stood up “Yeah you are right. I will go look for it” saying that she almost zoomed out of the great hall toward the Gryffindor tower.

She ran all the way and when she reached the portrait of the fat lady she yelled out the password scaring the poor woman. If someone had seen her at that moment they would think there was a fire somewhere.

Well in truth there wasn’t a fire but something close enough. She didn’t want to turn up in Snape’s class without her homework, it would be like showing up in a battle without having armor on. And she really didn’t want to get another detention especially not after the week she had. She didn’t know if she could keep her sanity if she had to go through it again. 

After a few minutes of frantic search of both her common room and her own room she still couldn't find her homework. She was really having a hard time thinking of where she had put it. On top of that she didn’t have much time before Transfiguration class started. Harriet was absolutely sure professor McGonagall would not be glad if she showed up late for her class. And unlike Snape she never let any of her students off the hook just because they were in her house.

“Life is so unfair” she muttered under her breath than an idea hit her like a piece of break. She could always ask her little elf friend for some help. So Harriet did just that and called Dobby.

“Missy Potter called Dobby?'' The little elf asked, looking at her with big adoring eyes.

“Oh Dobby! Thanks for coming” Harriet said in relief.

“Of course MIssy Potter, anything for Missy Potter. What can Dobby do?” The little guy said, almost bouncing in his place.

Harriet looked at the elf’s enthusiasm with her own adoring expression. She frankly loved this loyal little being and hated that she couldn't go spend time with him whenever she wanted. She has to sneak around from Hermione to go see the little elf. She shook her head to get rid of the gloomy thought “Dobby I can't find my Potions homework could you please help me look for it”

“Of course Dobby will help” Dobby nodded his head vigorously then he went to look for it and almost immediately found it under one of the beds. Harriet jumped up and hugged the little elf when she saw the parchment. 

“Thank you Dobby, you are a lifesaver,” Harriet said, squeezing the elf.

Dobby went pink at her reaction. Then he shooed her muttering ‘too kind his Missy Potter’, Harriet giggled at the elf’s antics but before she left the dorms she promised him that she would come to visit him in the kitchen. 

Leaving the common room so late, she figured taking a shortcut was the sensible thing to do. Thus she ended up on the ground floor a little ways from the classroom. She hurried to reach her destination when she saw a crowd gathered and there were a lot of whispers among the students who were standing in the crowd. And surprisingly there were students from all four houses and she distinctly heard the nasty snarling voice of Filch along with the hissing of a cat. Which Harriet assessed was coming from Mrs. Norris.

“Get back Bell. I will protect you” Harriet heard a defensive voice from the middle of the crowd. Even though the voice was steady it wasn’t brave and there was a hint of distress behind the tone almost like someone was trying to put up a front. Harriet tried to go through the crowd to see what was going on. When she finally managed to, what she saw was unexpected to say the least.

There in the center of the crowd was a first-year cornered into the wall clasping a small snake protectively to her chest. The girl wore the uniform of the Slytherin house and by the looks of it, she was frightened and shaking.

“Bell don’t be ssscared I won’t let thissss pruny creep lay a finger on you” the snake said hissing at Filch while the man only smiled nastily at the girl not minding the snake.

Harriet froze the moment it hit her that she was hearing the little snake speak, not another of her peers. She wasn’t sure what she should do. After all, it was a bad idea to stick your nose into other house’s business, especially Slytherin’s. Sure the little girl looked terrified, scared beyond words but someone from her own house would help her any moment now. After all there were plenty of them in the crowd so she shouldn’t worry.

The girl looked at the crowd with hopeful almost pleading eyes. But no one stepped forward to help, not even any of the Slytherin.

“That little monster will make a great addition to my collection and you girly will spend the rest of your time in Hogwarts in detention hanging by a thumb in the dungeons, if I can’t get you expelled” Filch sneered out while he was zeroing in on the girl, stretching his hand like crocodile’s jaw to grab the little creature in the clasp of the first year. And the expression he was wearing was cruel and purely sadistic.

Before she knew it Harriet threw herself in front of the first year hiding the young girl behind her and stared down Filch almost daring him to take another step. She felt a pair of small hands clutching her robe from behind and the hands shook.

Harriet didn’t have any more doubt about defending the little girl. Slytherin or not this little girl needed her and she would be damned if she left her to fend for herself like she was until a few years ago, until she came to Hogwarts, until she met her friends.

“What is going on here?” a distinct male voice spoke and Harriet instantly knew who it belonged to and it did not vote well for her at all.

“Professor Snape” Filch said with a sinister smirk “so good of you to come”

The crowd of students hastily parted to give the potions master a pathway to walk closer. Then he pointedly looked at the large number of students just simply standing there watching the show “And why are there so many students out in the hallway and not in the class?”

The students there took that as their cue to hastily scramble before they themselves landed into detention alongside the two girls bound to be before too long.

“I should have known” Snape looked Harriet up and down before turning to Filch “What did she do this time?”

Filch started with glee “Potter is interfering…”

“Sir, if I may, I would like…”Before Filch could finish his answer Harriet protested. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to open her mouth but she couldn’t let a scared little girl be punished on her very first week at Hogwarts.

“You may not.” Snape said in a sharp tone. Filch smiled showing off his rotting teeth.

Harriet stood there feeling defeated. She knew Snape didn’t like her at all, well if she was honest Snape most likely hated her but this was one of his students. And if she couldn't help her right now it could be disastrous. She slowly breathed out to keep herself calm, to keep herself from yelling at the cold-blooded greasy git. 

But thankfully she didn’t get the chance to blow up and let out her infamous temper to play, instead she was saved by the sight of the head of Gryffindor house who was accompanied by the headmaster and Lockhart. Who was babbling until he spotted Harriet and gave her a toothy smile.

Harriet barely controlled herself from rolling her eyes at the man. She knew the man was daft but did he not have any common sense either.

“Oh isn’t it Harriet our very own ‘the girl who lived’. So how are you doing this morning? I must say I am beside myself with the anticipation of seeing you playing Quidditch this year” Lockhart said with a hearty smile acting rather nonchalant.

Harriet couldn’t help but be shocked at the man, she was sure even a blind man could tell from a mile away how tense the situation was but of course this blond moron didn’t have a clue.

“Severus is everything alright?” Professor McGonagall asked then she noticed Harriet standing there “Miss Potter would you like to explain, why are you in the hallway rather than in my classroom?” she asked sternly.

“Ma’am I was on my way…” Harriet was silenced by a muffled sob. The little girl peeked out from behind Harriet’s robe with a tear-stained face. Professor McGonagall stared at her stunned and Snape looked a bit taken aback by it.

“What is the meaning of this” Snape asked rather angrily but surprisingly not to Harriet instead he was looking at Filch. The caretaker flinched at the ominous glare aimed at him.

“I think we should continue this discussion in my office,” Dumbledore said placing a hand on Snape’s shoulder “Harriet my dear if you would follow us”

“Of course, professor” Harriet replied to the headmaster then she turned to look at the little girl “its okay Bell” she said with what she thought was a reassuring smile “Everything will be alright now”

Bell looked at Harriet with big blue eyes then relaxed a little but she didn’t let go of Harriet’s robe, instead she walked behind her looking at the floor. 

The atmosphere of the headmaster’s office was tense to say the least. Snape was emitting a menacing aura while other professors were watching the pair of girls intensely. That made the little Slytherin hide behind Harriet all the more. She was still trembling and sniffling at the same time trying to hold back her tears.

Harriet felt bad for the young girl. She knew Filch’s presents would make it worse than it needed to be. It was a well known fact that the caretaker detested the students and he was good at finding excuses for getting them into trouble.

Harriet discreetly sighed; she had no idea about what she was going to do now and the glares she was receiving from Snape made her want to run away and hide under her bed but she made herself stand her ground. She can’t be such a scaredy cat just because the scariest teacher in Hogwarts was glaring at her, for Merlin's sake she was a Gryffindor and she will not let her courage abandon her at a time like this.

So she took a deep calming breath and turned to look at the headmaster sitting behind his desk. It was half surprising to Harriet that the old wizard hadn’t offered them any lemondrops yet. Mind you she was thankful for that and not because she didn’t like sweets, she loved them especially because of Remus. He would always give her bars of chocolates whenever he was around but in the headmaster's case she was sure those candies were laced with something.

“You have 10 seconds to explain yourself” breaking the silence Snape growled but to whom it wasn’t clear. So Harriet thought it was best to wait before opening her mouth this time.

That didn’t do well to improve the potions master’s mood and it was showing on his face. He opened his mouth again but he was stopped “Severus my boy you are scaring them” Dumbledore said calmingly then he turned to Harriet “now dear would you mind telling us the whole story”

“Forgive me sir but I am not sure myself” Harriet decided to be honest as she looked down at the girl still clutching her robe.

“That little monster has brought a vicious beast into the ground of Hogwarts” Filch said viciously “that thing almost did me in when I tried to take it from the little menace”

“Language Argus” professor McGonagall snapped at the caretaker “Don’t make me remind you use of inappropriate words in front of the student is prohibited” The deputy headmistress said strictly.

“But she and her beast are going around attacking other students” Filch said pointing a finger at the direction of the girls accusatory “If she isn’t stopped…”

“Ma’am that isn’t true. Sam would never attack anyone” Before Filch could complete his sentence Bell spoke up peeking out from behind Harriet, she was still trembling “he was just trying to protect me”

“And who is this Sam Miss. Moreno” Dumbledore asked smiling kindly at the terrified girl.

The girl went silent before she spoke again with a shaky voice “Sam is my familiar… he... he is an Opheodrys snake” her voice cracked “sir please don’t take him away from me. He is my only friend” she started to sob.

“Now dear there is no need for you to cry” Dumbledore said soothingly to the little girl “would you mind introducing Sam to us?”

It took a few moments but Bell rubbed her tearstained eyes then nodded stepping out from behind Harriet. She took a step toward the headmaster and held up her right arm “come out” the soft command was barely audible but Harriet heard it, so she was the only one who wasn’t surprised or in Lockhart’s case on the brink of having a heart attack when a green scaled snake slithered out of Bell’s sleeves. The snake looked around the room first then he turned to the headmaster and inclined its head in greeting.

“H...e… he d...didn’t Attack any one sir” Bell voice quavered.

“She is lying, sir” Filch said with almost a screeching voice “she and her beast deliberately attacked Mrs. Norris” Harriet watched the man in disbelief; this whole incident was because one pet attacked another? She wanted to say something but Snape beat her to it.

“So your solution to the matter was to threaten one of my students in the hallway instead of coming to me or to the headmaster” Snape snarled.

“Now, now Professor Snape” Lockhart said wearing his usual smug smile “I think Mr. Filch had a point there, letting a dangerous creature roam around the school isn’t safe for anyone. Besides he has the right to punish any rule breakers” he turned to Harriet and winked at her.

She couldn’t understand what the hell was wrong with their DADA professor. He was trying to get a little girl punished for having a familiar. She was just trying to protect the only friend she had and Harriet could relate to that. And above all that, why the hell was he winking!

Controlling her irate Harriet spoke as politely as she possibly could “Actually sir he doesn’t, there aren’t any rules stated in the handbook that a student couldn’t have a snake as their familiar. In Fact trying to separate a familiar from their bonded ones is a crime, which is punishable by a fine or a year in Azkaban” She found out that bit of information back when her two best friends were at war because of their pets and familiars. Hermione recited every bloody rule involved pets from the handbook to make her point to Ron.

Lockhart’s broad smile faded a little at that statement “but snakes are dangerous and they can’t be controlled”

“True snakes can’t be controlled but they can be loyal.” Harriet said in a matter of fact tone.

“How could you say that after… after the Basilisk?” the man splattered indignantly.

“I can say this because I had an encounter with the basilisk. Even after all the centuries the basilisk stayed loyal to a master that no longer drew breath, it stayed patiently until it’s master’s heir came along” Harriet explained, keeping her face straight. If she was being honest she never disliked snakes, not even the basilisk. After all it was a snake that scared the crap out of Dudley on her very first visit to a zoo that alone made them likable creatures in her book. And everything that happened in the Triwizard tournament helped her come to terms with her ability as a parseltongue. It was a part of her and she would not deny it anymore.

“Yes then it attacked all the muggleborns” Lockhart’s smug expression started to return with the statement.

“Yes it did but that wasn’t its decision” Harriet argued “It was only following orders given to it by a mad man. If the attack was its own decision then why did it wait for so long before acting on it?” she asked with a calm voice. She reminded herself with every breath that losing her temper and punching the blond moron wouldn’t solve anything. Still she was tempted to do just that but somehow she controlled herself.

Lockhart didn’t have an answer to that and looked like he was about to throw a temper tantrum.

Meanwhile the headmaster was watching the discussion with twinkling eyes and more than anything he looked amused. On the other hand, Snape and McGonagall looked a little gobsmacked.

“That still doesn’t guarantee that this one is as loyal or safe to keep around” Lockhart said triumphantly.

Harriet’s eyes fell down as if she was considering something while Dumbledore leaned slightly forward, his eyes gleaming with anticipation to see how all of this will turn out. He would have intervened but he couldn’t help himself.

Seeing no more answer coming from Harriet, McGonagall stepped forward when Harreit abruptly turned around facing Bell and her familiar.

“Hello Sssam, I am Harriet Potter. Would you mind anssswering a few questionssss for me?” Harriet said hissing in parseltongue to the snake and the room went completely silent.

The small green snake turned to face Harriet with wonder in its eyes “Oh look Bell, look itsss a ssspeaker” 

She gave the snake a smile “Ssso Sssam would you mind telling why did you attack Mrs. Norrisss.”

“I didn’t attack the fur ball, sssshe attacked my ssssweet Bell. We were jusssst minding our businesssss and on our way to Bell’ssss first classssss when that crazy cat came and attacked her”

“Just like that?” the snake dipped its head as though nodding it “you are not hiding anything, are you?”

“Of coursssse not I ssssewer on my honor. No ssssneake will ever lie to a sssspeaker”

“Then I will trussssst you on thisssss” Harriet said seriously “Ssssam may I assssk ssssomething of you?”

The snake looked at her cautiously as Harriet continued “Ssssam you don’t need to be wary. I am not going to assssk anything unreassssonable of you. I just need you to promisssse that you will not attack or harm anyone while you are on Hogwarts ground without a very good reasssson or in defensssse. If you do, I will alsssso give you my word to do everything in my power to keep you and Bell from being sssseparated”

“That issss agreeable. I, Ssssam the protector of Lady Issssabel Moreno, give my word that I sssshall not harm anyone on Hogwarts groundssss unlesssss it’s in Bell’ssss deafenssss or mine” The snake said sincerely.

Harriet couldn’t believe it a snake would word an oath like a wizard would. She shook herself from the shock before speaking “Sam gave me his word that he will not harm anyone unless provoked” She wasn’t surprised to see that beside Dumbledore everyone was looking at her funny.

“But it’s a venomous beast and surely it shouldn’t be trusted” Lockhart blurted out, losing whatever little composer he had.

Snape said coolly in the middle of the blond man's shouting “I am sure professor Lockhart is extremely worried about the well being of our student so allow me to put his mind at rest, to my knowledge Opheodrys snakes do not carry venom”

“Also a snake can not lie to a parselmouth. You should know that after all you did say you spent some time with Ghana's royle family” Harriet said trying to keep her glee at bay “And they are well known for having parselmouth in their family” She was dancing and cheering inside for being able to throw that fact at the blond morons’s face, doing some research now and then absolutely rocked.

“Then it is settled” the headmaster clapped his hands together “Miss. Moreno you may keep your familiar.”

Bell’s face lit up when she got the verdict. She intently turned around and leapt up throwing her arms around Harriet hugging her tightly with her small hands.

“Thank you,” Bell whispered in Harriet’s robes.

A smile formed on Harriet’s lips “You’re welcome”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat “Now I think both of you young ladies better be on your way for your classes” she said looking over her glasses, Harriet noticed she too was smiling.

“Yes ma’am” saying that Harriet put Bell down on her feet and excused herself then she hurried off to her transfiguration class. Everyone was diligently doing their given task. Harriet quietly sneaked beside Hermione just in time for professor McGonagall’s return.

The classes went on like normal until lunch in the great hall. Apparently the incident of that morning spread throughout the school like wildfire and now Harriet was getting more stares than usual.

“I heard you helped a Slytherin firsty this morning and that’s why professor McGonagall had to leave in the middle of the class” Ron asked, chewing a mouth full of eggs.

Harriet shrugged “I didn’t plan on it”

“Harriet, you do understand this will cause more gossip” Hermione said looking around the great hall worriedly.

“I couldn’t just leave the poor girl at Flich’s mercy; remember how he tried to get us into trouble every chance he got. He was trying to do the same thing with her too.” Harriet said, her shoulders slumped.

“That makes sense” Ron nodded his head “Her saving people thing just acted up again”.

“Yes but this might become troublesome on top of everything else,” Hermione said with a concerned frown.

“Don’t worry Mione whatever happens the three of us can take care of it” Ron said with a grin putting the other two at ease.

Later, after dinner when the trio entered the common room they met with more stares and there were groups of their dorm mates sitting around whispering among themselves.

“What’s going on?” Ron asked the crowd of people sitting around gossiping.

When there wasn’t any answer Harriet asked “Everything alright guys?”

There were a few muttering and whispers but no one spoke up or to them.

“Oi, if you lot have something to say just say it.” Ron said irritably.

“A lot of our parents didn’t want us to come back this year” Seamus said getting up from his seat walking up to them followed by Dean.

“Why?” Harriet asked, bewildered.

“Oh let me see” Seamus said in mock pretend thinking “Because of you. The Daily Prophet has been saying a lot of things about you Harriet”

“And you believe that” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“It’s not like there was anyone there in the maze the night Cedric died, for all we know she killed him just so she could win” Dean joined in.

“Yeah First she lies about Cedric’s death and Voldemort, then she goes and sticks up for a Slytherin, she is a bloody traitor.” Seamus spat out accusatory.

“Don’t you dare point fingers at her. You weren’t there, you didn’t have to go through what she had to” Ron took a menacing step toward the sandy haired boy but stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Ron don’t” Harriet said to her best friend “This peace is a fragile thing, so let it be. The truth will come out sooner or later but until then there is no need for forcing the harsh reality on them” then she turned to look straight at Seamus and Dean “I would appreciate it if you don’t be little Cedric’s death. He died while facing Voldemort, brave and unyielding, he died a hero” she said with misty eyes fighting back her tears which were threatening to appear.

“And about me helping a Slytherin” She looked up, pointedly pinned every one of her dorm mates with her piercing gaze “If you can live with yourself looking the other way when a little girl needs your help you are welcome to. I would have done the same thing no matter what house that girl belonged from, because my conscience isn't dead yet”

The common room fell silent and after a moment Harriet walked upstairs to her room head held high. She fell down on her bed and broke down crying, she thought she was coping alright but now she realized she was only fooling herself. It wasn’t a throbbing wound any more but a gaping scar which went deeper than any other she had.

AN: Oh my the Gryffindors are doing it again. Hopefully, Harriet's friends will stick by her this time.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** WOW! I am being such an angel about posting on a weekly basis. Hope you guys like the chapter. 

**Chapter.6**

Harriet felt drained from the moment she woke up. Remembering and reliving that night in the graveyard really took a lot out of her. She buried herself more into her blankets. 

She just laid quietly in her four-poster bed, curtains drawn. When she heard the other girls in the dorms waking up and getting ready she ignored it. When Hermione came to call her she pretended to be asleep. But when Dobby came calling she couldn't hide away in her blankets anymore.

Dobby called her gently at first, trying to coax her out of bed. But when she tried to ignore him too, the little elf just vanished her blankets and gave her a scolding. Then she was made to make herself presentable and sent off to the Great-hall. 

Harriet dragged her feet all the way to the Gryffindor table. When she spotted her friends, she went and plopped down between Fred and Hermione. She didn't even bother exchanging good mornings with Ginny, Ron, and Lee who were sitting opposite her. Instead, she stared at her plate. A moment or two of silent staring later a mug of hot chocolate popped up right beside her plate, there was a smiley face drawn on top of the whipped cream. She felt a wobbly smile come to her face at that. She couldn't believe the lengths Dobby will go to make her feel better. She picked up the mug and took a sip out of it. 

“Hai little Grasshopper you okay?” Fred asked in a whisper, when she looked up she saw both of the twins were looking at her concern.

“I will be!” She whispered back to them with a soft smile. 

Hermione caught on to their whispering and gave her arm a squeeze. “You Know Harriet, someone has been looking for you all morning,” The bookish witch said a bit teasingly.

“Who?” Harriet asked, confused until Hermione pointed at the Slytherin table where a certain girl with her snake companion sat. The moment their eyes met Bell’s face lit up and she gave an enthusiastic wave at her. The little girl’s smile was so bright that it was blinding. Harriet reflectively waved back with her own smile. She felt a little better. Even when she saw Malfoy and Perkinson scowling at the exchange she paid them no mind and got back to drinking her hot chocolate.

“You did a good thing” Hermione said looking at the small girl in silver and green, then she turned to Harriet and said sincerely “I am sorry for the way I reacted.” 

“Don’t be Mione, You were just worried” Harriet said and both of the witches shared a smile. The moment was broken when an owl dropped a newspaper on Hermione’s head and Hedwig dropped a parcel in her empty plate before flying away. Ginny and the twins chuckled at that.

Harriet looked at the parcel a bit suspiciously until she saw a paw print dipped in ink and a crescent moon surrounding it. She at once leaped up and tore into it in glee and when she finally opened the box, her eyes went wide in wonder. There inside were some chocolate the kind Moony always gives her, a few books that she didn't have time to read while in Grimmauld Place and last but not the least letters from her godfather and uncle. Tears threatened to appear in her eyes. She always watched others get care packages and letters, but she never dared to hope for anything similar. But here this box made her truly feel she had a family too who cared about her and loved her. She was so blessed to have her dogfather and Moony in her life.

Harriet in a hushed voice requested Dobby to take her parcel to her dorms and to make sure no one can touch it except her. The parcel popped away proving the little darling elf was looking out for her. She smiled and got ready to eat her breakfast when she heard a little thump. She turned to her side and saw Hermione looking at the newspaper indignantly. 

“What happened, Hermione?” Ginny asked cautiously.

“This” Hermione said pointing at an article “I absolutely can not believe the amount of bigotry in our government.”

Harriet got a little curious so she took a look at the article “ **Madam Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge Proposes A Bill to Registered Unbonded Vampires** .” 

When she looked at the bushy-haired witch after reading the headline, she could understand her displeasure. To someone who has been campaigning for House-Elf right for who knows how long this must look like a bad joke. 

“Hermione, this bill will never pass. Vampires in the wizarding world are highly respected and have an even higher standing than most of the purebloods,” Ginny said.

Hermione shook her head “But even if this bill does not pass it will still do damage. I read that the vampires who don't commit to a bond for one reason or another are very vulnerable and this will put scrutiny over them. And they could even be accused of turning into Strigoi just because they are unbonded.”

“Mione, what you are saying isn't wrong but I am sure nothing that bad will happen” Harriet tried to reassure her best friend. She kicked her other best friend underneath the table who was sitting in front of them and busy yammering on about Quidditch with Lee.

The redhead yelped and looked at her. She pointed at Hermione with her eyes. Thankfully Ron got her message and looked at what the bookish witch was still staring at. He took one of Hermione's hands in his hands “Mione, I am sure nothing bad will happen. Every once in a while someone will get too big for their britches and come up with a total hogwash bill like this and they never change anything but get demoted for their effort ”Ron said soothingly then he smiled all mischievous“ Hell dad got settled with one of those idiots in his department when we were little” hearing that Hermione laughed a bit and some of the tension on her shoulders disappeared. 

Harriet wondered if her friend would react with the same kind of distress if Lockheart didn't go and glorified the killing of Strigois for his stupid story. She wondered what the peacock would do if he got his hand on a vampire? Surely he would frame that poor sod as a Strigoi for more glory after all he did try to do something similar with her and Ron. She shook off that thought and concentrated on making Hermione feel better “Don't worry Hermione everything will be okay.”

“You guys are right, everything will be okay,” Hermione said nodding her head as if she was trying to convince herself.

Harriet really did hope everything turns out okay. More than that, she looked around her at all the unfriendly faces and hoped that the week ahead of them didn't turn out that bad.

A week later Harriet was sitting in the great hall at the same place. Trying to concentrate on the book in front of her, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t stop her mind from drifting off to the absolutely weird week she had. She lamented that her little prayer, or wish, or whatever wasn't granted. After they left the great hall, Harriet was prepared for all the gossip and the stairs. So she wasn’t surprised when all of that happened. 

When Malfoy and his minions came to accuse her of meddling in Slytherin business and tried to pick a fight with her. Harriet tried fending them off and she was doing well enough until poor Neville got caught in the crossfire when he tried to come to her defense. 

The situation took a turn for the worst when Snape caught them in the hallway fighting. But shockingly instead of blaming the whole thing on her and deducting a ridiculous amount of points from Gryffindor, the potions master gave all of them including Draco, detention with McGonagall. It was comical to see how betrayed the blond looked at the outcome and not to mention everyone else's stunned expression. On top of that being totally ignored by Snape in place of his ire unsettled her quite a bit. It made her think of the calm before a big storm.

But Snape wasn’t the only one acting out of character because Lockhart, their resident fame-hungry, egotistical self-proclaimed ‘greatest wizard after Merlin himself’ had taken to giving her an unnatural amount of attention. And all of it was getting on Harriet’s nerves, not to mention made her a target to all of his fans, who were giving her a lot of trouble and trying to pick fights with her for no reason. 

Only last week, Lavender Brown, one of the Lockhart die-hard fans, came up to her in the middle of the common room and accused her of being an attention whore. Of course Ron and Hermione came to her defense but it left her feeling guilty. Not because she took any of the crap that Brown spat out seriously but having her friends constantly coming to her defense wasn’t what she wanted.

As days proceeded, she was becoming sure this was some kind of twisted revenge. Why else would Lockhart make her stand in front of the whole class like a bloody performing monkey to help him act out another one of his so called adventures if not to humiliate her. She could still see all of the faces of her classmates trying to stifle their laughter and the burning eyes of his fangirls.

It was the 3rd time that week Lockhart had made her act out his ‘adventures’ with him. At that point, it has become so ridiculous that she wasn’t sure what the bloody hell the subject was meant to be, because no way in hell it could be called defense by any stretch of the word.

The man, their so called DADA professor hardly ever taught them anything of value. He usually wasted their time with his tall tales or ranting on about some made up spells. And on some occasions when he did make them practice those said spells, well let’s just say, it was no less than a disaster of an epic proportion.

Five of her classmates including Ron ended up in the hospital wing from color blindness to missing bones already. And not even a whole month of classes has gone by yet. She was starting to believe that Voldemort wouldn’t have the chance to get to them because their ‘wonderful’’ defense professor will help them all to an early grave.

Harriet let out a morose sigh before she was brought out of her musing by a loud howl of cheer around the Gryffindor table. Everyone was buzzing with excitement over the Quidditch tryouts.

Of course Ron was one of the loudest among them leading the energetic discussion about who was likely to make the Gryffindor team. Cause in truth only 3 spots were actually open this year. And it was apparent that every one of the boys wanted to be the keeper. And for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why.

‘Maybe because they have some absurd notion that they will be automatically popular with the opposite sex if they were to get that position’ a small voice at the back of her mind supplied. Harriet snickered at the thought then looked around when she heard a dreamy sigh from a few seats away from her. She had to stop herself from spitting out the mouth full of pumpkin juice she was drinking.

Apparently her subconscious was right because few of the girls of her house were in the middle of window shopping for Boyfriends, as many of them were ogling the loud knuckleheads. And surprisingly among them were a certain studious witch who was cheating on her books with fantasies of a very loud ginger head who was claiming to be the next Keeper of the Gryffindor team. Harriet shook her head as she softly laughed, she felt like she had done a great disservice to the ladies of her house by taking the position of the seeker for herself.

“Why are you laughing Harriet?” Ginny asked, looking mildly annoyed.

“Oh nothing,” Harriet said with a grin.

“Can they be any louder?” Ginny pointedly said looking at the loud boys.

“They are just excited Gin” Harriet said jokingly but she got the idea that the reason behind the young witch’s annoyance lied somewhere else. As she herself was one of the rowdy lions, she was complaining about.

“Tryouts is not even until Monday” Ginny’s tone held an uncharacteristic sharpness in it, which normally would never come even a mile of any discussion about Quidditch.

“Yes, and which is not even a week away,” Harriet said now a bit cautious.

“Yeah. But I just wish they would keep it down, some of us are trying to study here” Ginny closed her open book with a little more force than strictly necessary, then abruptly stood up “I am going to the library.”

“Wait, I will come with you,” Harriet offered, gathering her books. “Hermione, want to come with us?”

“Huh! Where?” Hermione asked disoriented, being pulled away from her daydream. Then she blushed a bright red which made the other two girls giggle.

“To the library” Harriet clarified for her friend.

“OH,” Hermione said, trying not to blush any harder “Yes sure.”

The library was quiet and sparsely populated. Harriet noticed Miss Pince was arranging books on their shelves on the other side of the room. So they walked to the furthest corner and books on an empty table.

“What do you think, Harriet? Who is more likely to be the next keeper this year?” Hermione asked, settling down on the table.

“I don’t know yet” Harriet smirked, “Why the sudden interest, Hermione?”

“Yeah Hermione why the sudden interest?” Ginny joined in wiggling her eyebrows “Are you rooting for someone in particular?”

“NO! ... Um… It’s nothing like that” Hermione became very flustered “I was just wondering how strong our team would be this year.”

“Um-hum” Harriet and Ginny hummed in unison.

“Our Hermione is developing quite the sportsman spirit, isn't she?” Ginny teased.

Hermione looked as though she would like to disappear off the face of the earth. So Harriet decided to take mercy and threw her a lifeboat “So have you done your herbology homework yet?”

“Yes, I did it yesterday” Hermione quickly grabbed onto it and tried to steer the conversation that way but that made Ginny giggle more.

Once Ginny was done with her teasing, Harriet gently poked at her “So Gin, why were you so mad back in the great hall” when the redhead opened her mouth to give some kind of excuse Harriet continued “don’t tell me because the guys of our house have no tact or the over excitement surrounding the tryouts.”

That made the younger girl go silent “It really is nothing,” she said after a bit.

“Gin we are your friends, you can tell us anything” Hermione said placing her hand gently on top of Ginny’s “We might not be able to solve the problem but we can at the very least listen. It will make you feel better.”

Ginny stayed quiet for a bit longer than she sighed and looked up “It's Dean.”

Harriet felt her anger rising, it was one thing attacking her but making Ginny sad was another. She wanted to throttle the boy but controlled herself enough to keep her expression calm.

“Is he giving you a hard time Ginny?” Hermione asked while Harriet worked on not showing her displeasure. She knew it would do no good to anyone right now and it might even make it worse.

“No! No! It's nothing like that.” Ginny said trying to act nonchalant “Its just a stupid fight. I am sure we will be fine. And I am a big girl I can take care of myself."

"And if you can't, we'll do it for you," Harriet agreed cheerfully, because by the gods she really will punch the prick square in the nose, if he didn't pull his head out of his ass and stop hurting her little sister.

"You're not punching him in the face," Ginny ordered. "I like his teeth the way they are."

"Never mind the twin's reaction when they find out why Harriet broke his teeth" Hermione added, her face serious.

"I wasn't thinking about punching him on the mouth but if you really like his face that much I could break his fingers instead" Harriet offered with an evil grin "I found an awesome hex for it in one of my books."

"Gods save me from homicidal friends" Ginny muttered to the ceiling before pointing a finger at Harriet "NO and what kind of books are you even reading. I thought all of them were either on charms or defense against the dark arts."

“You can’t really learn to defend yourself against something without properly understanding what it is. Besides it will do me good to learn some offensive spells while I can” Harriet shrugged. Then she flashed Ginny an innocent smile before making another suggestion "His toes?"

"You are no longer allowed within the spell range of Dean," Ginny declared.

"That will make meals in the Great Hall and all the classes that we have together extremely difficult" Hermione pointed out reasonably.

“I give up,” Ginny said giggling.

“Feel better?” Harriet asked.

“Much” Ginny confirmed.

“You do know I was only half-joking,” Harriet said a bit more seriously “Tell me if he’s being an ass.”

Ginny gave her a genuinely grateful smile and then stood up, “I think it's about time we head off to class.”

“Yeah class,” Harriet sighed.

“Don't you dare grumble. I have DADA next with the Peacock.”

Harriet winced “Yeah I really have no place to complain. I only have charms next than I am done for the day.”

“Lucky you,” Ginny grumbled and went off to her class.

They made it just in time for it. Hermione left to sit with Parvati again, and Harriet sat with Ron. Who was still in high spirits and chatting about the upcoming tryouts with Neville. The other boy was listening to him politely as if he wanted to ask the redhead to shut up but couldn't.

Harriet sighed and counted to twenty in her head to let Ron settle down. But no luck on that front. The redhead was still going strong with his chatter. So she decided to take the dutiful action of a decent best friend and smacked him over the head.

“Harriet!!!” Ron yelped.

“Yes! Ron,” Harriet replied, acting all innocent and sweet.

“Why did ya hit me?”

“Oh! No reason.”

Ron gave an exaggerated pout “You know mate, I liked you better before you went and bonded with the twins.”

Harriet only gave a smirk and looked pointedly at the front of the classroom where professor Flitwick was about to start his lectures. 

Their half-goblin professor was standing on his podium of stacked books “We are going to learn the summoning charm. So who can tell me about it,” the professor asked. 

Instantly Hermione's hand went up and so did Harriet’s “Ah! Miss Potter” chirped the professor pointing at Harriet.

Taking that as her cue she started to explain “The Summoning Charm is a charm that summons an object towards you. It can summon the object from a distance even if it is not in direct line of sight but the object has to be pictured vividly or it won't work.”

“Well-done Miss Potter that was very well put. Take 5 points for Gryffindor,” Flitwick said beaming at her. 

“Now the incantation is ACCIO, and the wand movement is just point and a short flick and make sure to use your wrist for it” The charms professor explained then flicked his wand and a row of small odds and knick-knacks appeared on a table in the alley between the desks “All of you will try to summon the object directly in front of you. The Slytherins will try to summon the green ones and Gryffindors will try to summon the red one. And the ones who will be able to summon their object before the class ends, will not have any assignment for next class” a loud cheer went around at the proclamation “Now begin!” and everyone started to make their attempt at summoning one of the objects.

Harriet centered herself and focused on the trinket she was intended to summon. She reminded herself that she has done it before only last year and it was in a far more stressful situation than this one. She cast the incantation softly under her breath “Accio” and the small paperweight flew in her hand. 

“Well-done Miss. Potter” Professor Flitwick praised “ Take 10 points for Gryffindor and as promised, no assignment for next class.”

Harriet smiled at that and saw Hermione giving her a proud smile from where she was sitting. When she heard Ron’s attempt at summoning charm she saw his object, an empty inkpot was staying stubbornly at its place. With every attempt Ron was becoming more and more impatient. Then suddenly a green paperweight flew by Ron's head nearly hitting him, and they heard a very distinct snicker from behind them. 

“Oh Draco, that's what true purebloods are supposed to be like, elegant at everything,” a sickly sweet voice said, then snidely added “Unlike the blood traitors”

Harriet didn't have to look behind to know who was speaking. It could be no other than Parkinson. She wondered if the pug face didn't see her do the summoning charm first and did she conveniently forget that she was a half-blood. Harriet sighed and grabbed Ron’s hand so that he wouldn't do anything stupid, while the professor awarded an appropriate amount of points to the blond.

“Ron calm down don't let them goad you” Harriet said in a whisper to a very stiff Ron then she looked at his eyes “besides mate you got this” the red-head gave a determined nod. 

Even though the Slytherin group sitting behind them kept up their jibes and snickering, Ron paid them no mind instead he tried to concentrate on what Harriet was saying “Take a deep breath, now center yourself. Good! Now focus on the inkpot and will it to come to you“.

“Accio” Ron said, a bit unsure but clearly at the inkpot and it flew at him at once. He caught it before it could hit him and looked at it in a bit of bewilderment then he jumped and whooped in joy. 

“Bravo Mr. Weasley! Take 10 points to Gryffindor” The professor congratulated Ron, then he caught Hermione’s eye and gave her a broad grin which made her cheeks go a little pink.

Harriet looked on smiling at the exchange completely ignoring Perkinson’s grumbling. Like her opinion mattered when she hasn’t been able to do the spell herself. And some of the other students were starting to look at her side-eyed at her continuous rude barbs.

Ron’s grin abruptly dropped when he felt something crawling at the back of his shirt. He went completely still before jumping up from his desk shaking his robes trying to get the spider off of him. When the spider dug its legs in his clothes, Ron started to shake it violently in terror trying to get the creepy eight-legged crawly off him and knocked into the table filled with the practice trinkets. The table toppled over and everything shattered falling on the stone floor, while the other students watched in horror. The half-goblin Professor tried to calm his student down without success. He cast a few vanishing spells at the spider but ended up missing his target because of all the jumping and shaking Ron was doing.

When Harriet finally broke out of her shocked stupor she got up on her feet and stunned her friend. That made the red-head go completely still and fall down, which gave the charms professor the opportunity to vanish the Tarantula.

In the silent classroom only muffled snickering of Parkinson, Malfoy and his goons could be heard. Harriet felt her blood boil and she gave a venomous glare to the Slytherin group before going to her friend. Hermione was already beside Ron before she could reach them. The bushy-haired girl looked extremely worried about their friend’s condition.

“Miss Potter, Miss Granger, I believe you should take Mr. Weasley to the infirmary. And whoever thought this was an acceptable prank to play on one of your own classmates should know I am extremely disappointed and when I find out who it is will be in detention for a month with Mr. Filch and be assured that I will find out” the little professor gave everyone a stern look and ushered the girls out of the class with their friend.

It was almost dinner time when Ron came around. Harriet was busy having a hushed conversation with the twins but when they heard a soft groan, all of their attention shifted to the boy slowly coming around.

Hermione put her book down and went to the redhead on the infirmary bed. When he opened his eyes, it landed on the concerned witch.

“Mione, what happened?” Ron asked, still a bit groggy.

“Oh you!” Hermione’s face lit up with a soft smile “Why don't we help you sit up before we talk about it, Okay,” she offered while helping him up.

After Ron was properly sat up on the infirmary bed, Ginny offered him some water and went to find madam Pomfrey. 

“So, how much do you remember?” Harriet asked tentatively. Ron’s face became a little pensive then it went very pale.

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes, "Seriously Ronald, you are such a baby. Honestly where is your infamous Gryffindor courage?" she teased.

"Rightfully scared out of its wits by that Spider," Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest. Everyone knew how scared he was of spiders. So his defense was not that silly, not when his boggart was a spider. Hermione’s face softened but she kept teasing the redhead.

Harriet and the twins shared a look, amused at the play bickering of her two best friends.

While the pair were still bickering with each other like an old married couple, the mediwitch came and gave Ron a check-up before giving him a clean bill of health and shooed everyone out of her domain.

**A/N:** Poor Ron getting attacked by your worst nightmare is not funny. But he has Hermione and others to nurse him back to health. What do you think will happen next? will they take revenge or let it slid? ;)

Leave a comment on your way out toodles.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Alright here you go the next installment. And I have a bit of an announcement to make. You see people uploading on a weekly bases is kind of not possible anymore for me. (Sheepish laugh) Yah, so I have decided to make it a monthly thing and some bonus update if possible during the month. So expect a brand new chapter in the first week of every month. 

On another note is anyone interested in being my beta. You will get to read the (unedited) chapters before everyone else. :3

**Chapter.7**

The morning after the charms class Harriet was sitting at the Gryffindor table right beside the twins and they were whispering among themselves. Once in awhile one or the other twin would chuckle at something Harriet had said.

Ron and Ginny were giving them suspicious and weary looks while Hermione was busy with one of her books and absent-mindedly putting forkfuls of eggs in her mouth. When Draco and his goons entered the great hall flowed by Perkinson and Greengrass, the mischievous trio's smile became a bit bloodthirsty which prompted everyone who noticed to scoot away a little. 

“You know, you guys smiling like that looks a little creepy” Ron said a bit nervously.

The trio gave an evil little grin and chorused in unison “Oh Ronnykin you say the sweetest things to us.”

“Okay that’s it, why are you three in such a bloody good mood?” Ginny asked, a bit irritated.

“Oh, nothing” Fred started with a wicked grin “must be the great weather we are having” George cheerfully continued “and our little grasshopper was just reminding us,” Fred said pointing at Harriet “we shouldn't waste such a pleasant day cooped up inside” George finished giving their siblings very innocent look.

Ron and Ginny just stared for a moment then snorted “Like hell, we are going to believe that” Ginny said to her brothers.

“Yeah! Don't forget we grew up with you two” Ron said pointedly at the twins.

“Aww!! You hear that brother of mine. Our own siblings don’t have faith in us,” George started with an exaggeratedly hurt look “Yes, brother of mine. I tell you my heart is broken into a million pieces,” Fred finished with a dramatic sniff.

“There, there guys I believe you even if they don’t,” Harriet said mock consolingly, and that made the dam burst open and everyone broke into laughter. When their laughter died down a bit, they heard a shriek from the Slytherin table and everyone’s attention was drawn to it.

In the Slytherin table sat a very irate Draco Malfoy, whose hair looked as though someone had electrocuted him and dumped a bucket full of lime green paint on it. Beside him, Pansy Parkinson’s hair was in similar condition. The only difference was instead of being electrocuted her hair looked like an ugly bush. Not to mention the two goons who were still busy eating even though their hair was lime green too.

Harriet valiantly tried to keep her face straight but others in her house or in the great hall had no compunction about it. The hall was filled with giggles and laughter and Ron was giving them a proud look as if to say “See they are my brothers and best friend”. Well, it did make her happy to be appreciated after all this little prank was played to defend Ron’s honor. When Hermione finally noticed she gave her and the twin a disapproving look but Harriet saw the corner of her friend’s lips twitch. 

Eventually, Draco’s eyes met Harriet, and she got a toxic glare from him. But she absolutely paid no mind to it and enjoyed her handy work. When the professors got involved in it, especially Lockheart, she sat up a little and couldn't believe her good luck. Harriet waited with bated breath for the fall out of Lockheart’s spell work. As she predicted the narcissist of a man forced past Snape and loudly proclaimed “Severus I have seen this little spell work before in the valley of NunDuk. So you can leave it to me” and promptly vanished half of the hair on Perkinson’s head. 

The potion's professor looked ready to eviscerate the pompous peacock and most of the students howled in laughter. The Slytherin girl just sat there stunned into a stupor and her partner in crime Draco Malfoy looked at her horrified. When Lockheart approached him, his wand aimed at the lime green hair, the formerly blond boy couldn't keep his composure and jumped out of his seat and ran out of the great hall, his two shadows just shrugged and followed obediently behind him.

The rest of the day no one saw those particular Slytherins in any of their classes and when they did come back Malfoy looked sullen and resentful but with a full head of blond hair. On the other hand, Perkinson was seen wearing a cloche in an effort to hide half of her bold head and whatever hair which did peek through from underneath was back to the original color.

Everyone in the Gryffindor knew or suspected who pulled the prank and why. Ron was static that his honor was avenged, the twins were even more high spirited and Harriet was enjoying Malfoy and Perkinson free week. But good times never last so on the following Monday the Slytherins came back to class.

The trio and Neville were on their way to the potion’s class after Transfiguration. Neville let out a long sigh, and he was dragging his feet a bit more than it was usual for him. When they finally reached the potions' classroom, Nev went and sat on his usual seat like a condemned man and took out his textbook.

“Hai Nev, are you doing okay there?” Harriet asked settling down right beside Neville’s station and taking out her own book and knives.

“Yeah mate, you look a bit sick,” Ron asked from beside Hermione.

Neville took a shaky breath before answering “I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I am going to mess up badly today”

“Don't worry Nev you will do just fine” Hermione said giving the boy a sympathetic look “ You did complete your assignment didn't you? If you just stay calm, you will do fine today” Neville nodded but even a blind elf could tell his heart wasn't in it.

Before Hermione could give anymore encouraging words to the meek boy the door of the classroom flew open and in came the potions professor with his usual scowl etched on his face. And somehow he made it look even more sinister than usual.

Without any preemptive Snape walked briskly and dived straight into his lesson “Open to page 164” Snape commanded and sounds of pages being turned filled the room “in last class you all were given the assignment of reading the 11th chapter and writing two feet on the ingredients mentioned for the Draught of Peace”

“Malfoy when adding moonstone will turn the potion purple,” Snape asked briskly and most of the students were a bit taken aback because it was so out of character for him to single out the students of his own house.

Malfoy hesitated a bit but answered nonetheless “After stirring the potion for thirteen times sir.”

“Patil what will happen if the potion is not given the time to simmer after adding the moonstone powder” The potions master continued with his questioning without acknowledging Malfoy’s answer which didn't just unsettle the blond but the whole class and Harriet stared incredulously at the play by play. And soon the weird spell broke when he finally asked Harriet “what color will the potion be after you add unicorn horn?”

“Uh.. sir, I think Pink!”

“Are you asking me Miss potter or telling me?”

“Te...Telling you sir”

The professor irritatedly moved on which was so bizarre that Harriet didn't know what to think. And after he was done grilling most of the class on the material he set everyone to brew the potion individually which seemed to make Neville a bit more nervous.

Harriet quickly got to work with starting the potion after she went and got all the ingredients she needed but before she lit her stove she discreetly took out her wand and cast a shielding charm she learned just for this occasion this summer. When she was done she let out a relieved sigh and busied herself with her task.

Time passed by at a snail's pace and everyone kept tending to their cauldron while Snape slowly walked around the class inspecting everyone’s progress. Everything was peaceful until a Beetle came flying toward her cauldron. 

When the Beetle fell on the stone floor bouncing harmlessly off of Harriet’s shield, she felt triumphant especially the look on Malfoy’s face was priceless but her little victory was short-lived because it didn't take much time for the “Dungeon Bat” to notice it and stalk toward her.

“Miss Potter why par tell, is there a Moon Beetle on the ground” Snape drawled look unamused “And since when does the Draught of Peace required to brew it”

“I… Um… Sir... That is” Harriet was so startled that she stuttered trying to give the potion’s professor an answer.

“Yes Miss Potter, I am waiting” 

Harriet could hear the familiar snickers of certain Slytherin group “This isn't mine sir”

Snape arched a very unimpressed eyebrow “ So you mean to tell me that this little Beetle walked itself here all the way from the ingredient cupboard when it is very much dead” 

Harriet wanted to shout out that his star pupil had thrown it at her cauldron when he wasn't looking. And the only reason it didn't end up in her cauldron was because she had the foresight to cast shielding charm around her cauldron “I... Um... Sir... The beetle...”.

“That's enough Miss. Potter. If you can not read the instruction given clearly on the board or respect the ingredients then maybe you shouldn't be allowed in my class” 

“But sir...”

“10 points from Gryffindor and detention at 8” 

Harriet gritted her teeth to keep herself from blurting out something against the unjust treatment when she saw something fly in Nev’s cauldron. Which turned into a furious neon green and started to bubble up violently before it exploded spectacularly. Thankfully Neville jumped away from the cauldron in fright.

Snape hastily put up a containment ward but not before some of the noxious fumes escape. The professor tried his best to vanish the vile concoction, including the cauldron and all. Then he rounded on the Gryffindor with a menacing aura and Neville took a quick step back from him. 

The whole class was holding its breath, anticipating a massive blow up but the silence was rudely disturbed when giggling could be heard. Slowly the giggling became louder and louder and everyone’s attention was at the culprit who was giggling quite loudly by that point.

"Potter," Snape said, his voice deceptively calm, though he wore his habitual scowl. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at her “Would you mind telling me what is so funny that you are unable to control your laughter”

Harriet went quiet for a moment then a snort escaped from her mouth followed by both of her hands flying to cover it. Their eyes met, Snape looked at her with stormy anger, ready to make some pickles out of her. 

The tension was palpable, but before all hell could break loose, Harriet started to giggle again and fell down in laughter. She was sitting on the ground clutching her stomach and laughing hysterically. Intermittently her laughter sounded choked up a bit as she tried to make it stop.

Snape just stared at his most troublesome student and let out an exasperated sigh pinching the bridge of his nose “Miss. Granger, get your housemate to Madam Pomfrey. 30 points from Gryffindor Longbottom and a week of detention with Mr. Filch. Class dismissed” 

When Harriet came to, she was disoriented and confused. For a moment she stared at the white ceiling, her mouth felt dry and her tongue felt heavy.

“You are awake!” Ron and Hermione rushed to her side.

“What did I do this time?” Harriet asked her best friends, resigned.

Ron’s face lost a bit of the worry before he opened his mouth “Oh mate it was wicked”

“If you mean by wicked that it was absolutely disastrous then yes it was wicked,” Hermione said crossing her arms over her chest.

“Mate, don’t listen to her, that was absolutely brilliant! Have you seen his face? It looked like he would explode, I swear he only can reach that state because of you, not even Neville can come close to it. You should get a standing ovation or something like that or when he finally explodes an award for services to the school. We could finally be rid of the greasy git. No more Bat of the Dungeons…” Ron cheered.

Harriet groaned hiding her face under the blanket “Agh!! Just kill me now…”

“Miss. Potter, I hope you wouldn't be inconsiderate enough to waist all of my hard work like that” Madam Pomfrey said walking toward them.

“Of course not Madam Pomfrey” Harriet promptly answered, lowering her blanket blushing furiously. She couldn’t believe the mediwitch caught her saying something like that even though it was in jest. 

Madam Pomfrey only gave her an amused look before casting some diagnostic spell on her then when she was done with them she gave her an orange potion to drink “It wasn't anything to worry about as I said before. The effect of the ruined potion was similar to an overpowered cheering charm” the mediwitch gave Harriet a smile and plucked the now empty potions' vial from her “Now off you go, dinner is about to start and I don't want any of you in here, any time soon”

The trio made their way to the great hall and found their way to the Gryffindor table. Harriet made sure they sat beside the twins and Ginny.

“So our dear Grasshopper, what do we hear?” Fred started with a big grin “Tell us it isn't so” George continued dramatically “Tell us you didn't play another prank without dear old us” Both finished with mock sorrow.

Harriet gave the twins a blank look “For the Last time, I am not suicidal enough to play pranks on the Dungeon Bat. I value my life and limbs. Thank you very much.”

Ron and Ginny snickered while Hermione looked on amused, the twins and Harriet had been having the same conversation over and over, and still, Fred and George were not convinced. 

“Of course little Grasshopper” The twins winked at Harriet.

Harriet just shook her head and piled up food in her plate, Ignoring the devils she called her Yin to her Yin. She still had to get her detention so there wasn't much time for her to waste but at one point she noticed Neville wasn't anywhere to be seen.

“Where is Neville”

“Don't Know. Haven't seen him in a while.” Ron shrugged.

“Well, that is not surprising. You know how he gets after one of his mishaps in potions” Hermione said sympathetically.

“But he didn't,” Harriet protested. When she got disbelieving looks from her friends she clarified “I mean he didn't screw up, he was doing fine until something came flying and landed in his potion”

“You don't say little Grasshopper,” George said innocently “And could that something be flying from the direction of our favorite Slytherins,” Fred asked just as innocently as his brother

“Yap” Harriet gave a dark look toward the Slytherins table.

Fred’s eyes followed the line of sight of Harriet’s “So do we have any gift idea” George also looked in the same direction “for our darling snakelings”. The twins usually never target any one group in particular. And they absolutely refused to cross the line between pranking and bullying. But for the blond ferret and his cronies, they would make an exception. Because no one goes after their loved ones and gets away unscathed.

Harriet gave a little smirk “Maybe” her tone was a bit creepy which made a shiver go down Ron and Ginny's back. 

They promptly turned to Hermione, and they got an eye roll for their effort. “Harriet please stop plotting while we are eating,” the bookish witch asked politely.

“Yes ma’am” Harriet and the twins grinned. 

Hermione reminded her about her detention after Harriet was done with her dinner. She huffed at the unfairness of the world and picked up her bag to go to her detention. All the way from the great hall to Snape’s classroom in the dungeons she dragged her feet and grumbled under her breath. When she reached her destination she kind of wanted to just turn around and run away but if she did that she would be in more trouble, so she gathered up all her Gryffindor courage and knocked on the door.

“Enter!" Snape's sharp tone called from within the classroom. 

So Harriet entered the classroom a bit cautiously. And found Snape sitting behind his desk busy marking some poor sod's assignment.

“What are you waiting for, Miss Potter a written invitation? Close the door and get to work.” the professor snapped, making Harriet jump and scurry to the piled up dirty cauldron.

When she was halfway through washing the pile of cauldrons Harriet discreetly looked up at where Snape was still grading assignments. It was very odd to have the dungeon bat’s detention and not get yelled at every few minutes for not doing something to his specifications. Looking at Snape made her realize that he somewhat looked paler than usual, his head was also a little bowed and his hands didn't look so steady. In short, the professor looked sickly and a bit frail. 

She was so caught up in her examination of her professor that she kind of forgot to look away and got caught staring. And boy oh boy! The dungeon bat did not look happy. The glare she got from him was on par with the basilisk, scratch that the basilisk would have run away from that glare, tail between its legs. Now she was picturing the giant basilisk with legs, now that wasn't disturbing. 

Harriet gulped and got back to scrubbing cauldrons, and she did all of them in record time.

“Sir” Harriet called hesitantly.

“What is it now?” Snape snapped. 

"I… Um… " Harriet gestured at the clean cauldrons. 

"Fine. Get out!!" 

Harriet quickly vacated the classroom and trudged up to her common room but on her way something niggled at her. She felt as though something was seriously wrong with the potions master. He was acting so out of character for the past few days.

Frowning she made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady "password."

"Valour" And the portrait opened up to let her enter. 

The common room was pretty sparsely populated, only a few groups sitting here and there. Harriet looked for her friends as they always stayed up if one of them had detention or something. So it was no surprise to see them huddled up near the fireplace. So she went to them and abruptly stopped when she saw Neville sitting among them. Which wasn’t that unusual but the boy looked a little distraught. His eyes were a little red, his shoulders were slumped and he was hugging his knees. Everyone including Ron, Hermione, the twins, Lee, and even Seamus was sitting with Neville trying to console him. 

“Hai, what's going on guys?” Harriet asked. 

Neville looked up and his eyes were a bit misty, Harriet’s heart clenched at seeing that.

“I will tell ya what's going on. Those no-good Slytherins have been harassing Neville here, ” Seamus said glaring at Harriet as if it were all her fault.

Harriet ignored the venomous look aimed at her, and kneeled down at Neville’s eye level “Nev are you okay?” She placed a hand on his knee.

Neville sniffed a little as though he was crying not so long ago but said nothing.

“Mate they really have been up to their old games again” Ron jumped to explain when Neville couldn’t “And they even stole his toad from him.”

“What?!” Harriet exclaimed in shock.

“Th… They sa… said they will leave Trevor somewhere for me to find” The poor boy stuttered and his voice got choked up “H... he mu...st be so scared.”

“Those little!!” Harriet gritted her teeth together in pure fury “Look we will find him” Neville’s head shot up at that and looked at her with so much hope that it hurt, “I promise we will. And then we will make sure they don't mess with you ever again.”

Then as soon as the hope appeared in Neville’s face it disappeared and something like self-loathing took its place “Why would you go out of your way to help me?”

“Why wouldn't I help you? We are friends, aren't we? And friends look out for each other. If you really have to ask me why I would want to help then, I must have been a horrible friend to you so far” Harriet said a little bit ashamed at the realization because if she was a good friend Neville wouldn’t have hesitated to ask for help. Neville was always so kind, and he stuck by her last year when most turned away, showing their back to her. But he stayed, and helped her any way he could. Even going as far as to smuggle ingredients from his greenhouse to help the twins prank the people who were making her life hell at school.

“No.. no, you are not a bad friend,” Neville said hastily.

“Then it's settled, ” Fred said grinning “you are right, oh brother of mine” George sang “we are going for a midnight adventure” Both declared together.

“Hold your horses, if we all go we will be caught.” Hermione held up one of her hands.

“Oh don't be like that Mione,” Ron whined.

“No Ron she is right and besides remember I kind of pissed off Filch,” Harriet said sheepishly “Let me and the twins go this time, it's less likely for us to get caught.”

Ron grumbled for a bit and agreed. Harriet went to her trunk and got her invisibility cloak then came in front of the entrance to meet up with others. Everyone wished them luck before they quietly slipped out of the common room.

Fred and George decided to go check out the second floor where Neville was ambushed by Draco and his cronies and Harriet chose to venture to the dungeons under her invisibility cloak in hopes of finding some clues.

**A/N:** Ouu! things are getting interesting. What will happen on Harriet's night stroll? Suspense, suspense. ;)

Leave a comment on your way out toodles.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Here is the next Chapter. I wrote this last July but wasn't in the right headspace to post it and then life happened. Hope ya all enjoys this.

**Chapter.8**

Harriet slowly crept her way toward the dungeons. One step at a time, trying not to make any noise because as amazing as her cloak was it couldn't really block sounds, so she tried to take quiet breaths and even quieter steps.

She prayed that Mr. Filch or his cat from hell won't come snooping for her. It took her a while but she successfully sneaked down to the dungeons. She was about to relax a bit but froze when she saw a glimpse of unfortunately familiar bright blue robes. She could have sworn that those ghastly things were glowing in the dim light of the dungeon corridor.

Harriet watched silently as the man tip-toed like a thief which made no sense to her, as the professors were allowed to roam anywhere in the castle at any time. That particular professor did not look like he was on rounds either, instead, he looked like he was up to no good. 

Lockheart crept forward and so did Harriet. She silently damned her stupid curiosity, she was sure it will get her killed one day and unlike cats, she didn’t even have nine lives. The fraud reached a tapestry depicting a tree with branches upon branches. It was covering a wall in a wide corridor.

The blond peacock brought out his wand and Harriet’s breath caught. She stood without motion, watching as he brought his wand up to the tapestry and mumbled something, for a moment nothing happened. Then there was a great big blast, a flash of light and followed by Lockheart flying backward, slamming into the wall on the other side of the hallway. 

Harriet just stood there mouth agape. She didn't know should she be horrified or let out the laughter that was bubbling inside her. She valiantly kept herself from laughing as she watched the man scrape himself off the ground and look at the tapestry with bewilderment. 

Her mirth vanished the moment she heard a pair of hurried footsteps coming toward them. When she saw who it was she just wanted to groan. It was no other than the creepy caretaker extraordinaire Mr. Filch, followed by his ever-trusty sidekick Mrs. Norris. She just hoped the far ball didn't come sniffing at her and catch her.

“Ah! My good man Mr.Filch. What brings you here” Lockheart asked his broad grin on display.

“I thought some students were daring to break the curfew, right my sweet!” the caretaker said to his cat instead of Lockheart.

“Ah! No, No, there isn't any student here” Lockheart said beaming at the caretaker “Only us”

“Shame! I miss the days where those miscreants would be hung by the thumb in the dungeons” 

“By the thumb you say?” 

“Yes! Yes!” Filch perked up a bit “The chambers which they used to use are not far from here. Would you like to see it? I still keep the chains nice and oiled”

“Maybe some other time. I am sure it would be wonderful” 

Harriet listened to the conversation, horrified. She didn't realize the old caretaker wasn't just an ill-temper, unfriendly old man, he was a downright sadist. She slowly took some steps back, putting some distance between the men and her. But she abruptly stopped when she saw Mrs. Norris walked forward and in her direction no less.

Harriet stiffened but her brain started to scream at her to run. She stared at the cat hoping that its owner wouldn't notice what it was doing. But she had no luck and the old caretaker did notice “Ah my sweet what are you looking at” Filch quickly came forward and picked up his cat “is it one of the filthy children” He said walking past her while she melded herself with the wall.

“Come now Filch, I am sure no one is there”

“Oh, No Professor. You don't understand how devious those pests are” Filch said suspiciously looking around. 

Harriet kind of felt affronted at that, well yes she was out of bound but she had a good reason and she didn’t appreciate being called devious thank you very much. Her inner thread abruptly stopped when she heard croaking and she could not believe her luck that the damn little frog chose that moment to show itself. How the hell she was going to rescue it without getting caught herself, she didn't know.

The moment Trevor the toad came into view both of the men’s eyes zeroed in on it. 

“Ahh… Good eye my sweet” Filch said proudly rubbing his face on the cat’s far “Found me a new trophy didn’t you Mr. Norris”.

Harriet was absolutely pissed at the turn of events. What was with the stupid old man? Taking student’s pets as trophies were not okay. She vowed then and there that she was going to be more careful with her Hedwig and if this crotchety old man came anywhere near her she would freaking raise hell-fire.

She felt so done with that situation that it wasn't even funny. So she impulsively took out her wand and just accioed the toad but unfortunately, that drew both of the men’s attention to the airborne amphibian. She caught the toad and just stood there. Both the men and she were frozen at the spot.

The men only saw a frog floating in the air. Lockheart looked as if he was ready to faint and Flitch’s eyes widened in his shock.

Harriet cursed under her breath at her impulsiveness. She was going to be in so much trouble if she didn’t do something and she couldn't afford to get caught. So she just turned and sprinted away. But before she got very far she heard footsteps and a shout “Quick Mrs. Norris we have to catch the flying frog.”

Harriet took up her speed and bounded away blindly. She didn't care where she was going as long as she got away from the caretaker. She took corridors at random, going deeper into the dungeons than she ever dared to before. At some point, she brought the frog inside her cloak and put it in her pocket, no point in giving her pursuers any clue at where she was.

After running for a while she came to a corridor that split into two separate paths. She quickly ducked into the one on her left side but in the midst of panic, she stumbled and touched one of the unlit torches mounted on the wall. She abruptly fell forward into a dark room. She scrambled off the ground and frantically looked around. Her heart was beating a mile a minute making a valiant effort to escape out of her ribcage. 

A few moments of complete silence made her let out a sigh of relief but it quickly vanished when she heard something move in the dark. She went completely rigged and listened carefully to her surroundings, a heartbeat or two later she heard heavy breathing somewhere near her. The realization that she wasn’t alone in that unfamiliar dark place was chilling to her. A sense of cold dread ran over her, the fear in her was almost alive making her choke on it. Harriet took out her wand and gripped it tightly in her hand. 

“Who… who’s there?” Harriet’s shaky voice was barely audible. She took a step back and stumbled into something. The sound of glass met the stone floor was too much for her frayed nerves.

In a matter of moments, she was pinned to the wall staring into blood-red eyes too close to her face. She didn’t know what had attacked her. She scrambled to get loose from the iron grips of whatever holding her nailed to the walls but it didn’t do her any good. When she felt a pair of sharp fangs touch the bare skin of her neck she was sure this was it, this was going to be the end.

In her last attempt in desperation, she gathered as much raw magic as she could and launched it at her attacker. Her assailant was thrown back and crushed into something in the darkness. Once she was free, her legs gave out on her and she slid to the stone ground. She shakily picked up the wand which fell when she was attacked and softly called out Lumos. She realized she was still wearing her cloak and half of her body was still invisible. Harriet felt unsettled at the realization. She wanted to know what she was attacked by so she channeled more magic into the spell and the Lumos got brighter.

Her eyes went wide when she saw who rather than what attacked her. A little way from her Harriet saw a crumpled form of a man clad in black robes. He was lying by the foot of a table which reminded her of one of the working stations in the potions classroom. 

It was so obvious who this person was that she couldn’t think that she might be mistaken. In spite of that, she decided to check even though a part of her brain was telling her to get away. Harriet slowly crawled to the man and froze the moment she saw the face.

She was correct, it was no other than the potions professor. But there was something different about him and then she remembered the feel of sharp fangs. Her breath hitched and her left hand flew to her neck. She felt a bit of a sting as though there was a scratch and maybe even a drop or two of blood. For a moment she pondered if she will turn into a vampire now but remembered that vampires in the wizarding world can’t be created, they can only be born. 

She almost started laughing at the absurd thought when she heard footsteps running toward where she was. The panic of earlier came back in full force. She frantically tried to find a way out of there but she couldn't find any, not even the one she came in with. Her mind ran a mile a minute trying to come up with a way of escape and footsteps were coming closer and closer. Without even realizing she called out the name of only being she knew who would help her no matter what. Dobby appeared in front of her like a knight in tea cozy and grabbed her arms whisking her away from there.

Harriet blinked her eyes a few times to adjust to the difference of light. Then she saw Dobby standing there with so much concern in his little face. She leaped up and hugged the little fellow. Dobby squeaked in surprise but returned the hug.

Once Harriet was done squeezing the stuffing out of him, she let go and sat back down on the ground. Then she noticed for the first time where she was. It was a room filled with piles and piles of things at random without any rhyme or reason.

“Dobby where are we?” Harriet asked.

“It’s the come and go room of Hoggywarts Missy Potter” Dobby replied, then he looked at Harriet with worry and asked, “Is Missy Potter doing okay?”

“Yes I am fine now,” Harriet said a little shakily, still trembling a little bit from the adrenaline she was calming down from.

“Is Professor Sanppy doing okay?”

“What!?” Harriet yelped and looked around and sure enough, the potions professor was lying not too far from her “Dobby you brought professor Snape along. Huh!? ”

“Did Dobby do something wrong Missy Potter” The poor thing twisted his ears in distress?

“OH! No, No… No Dobby, you did nothing wrong. I was just surprised” Harriet said frantically trying to calm the elf down and keeping him from hurting himself.

“Dobby didn’t?” The elf said to her hopefully.

“Of course not” Harriet smiled even though she didn't know what to do next. Because she was sure Snape was a vampire, with his pointy fangs and his crimson eyes. And he did attack her in a dark room and try to drink her blood. But wasn't ‘try’ the operative word over here. Yes, he tried but he didn't drink her blood… or he... couldn’t. Coming back to the attack part in the darkroom, she wasn't even supposed to be there. So wasn't the incident partly her fault? Or was she trying to excuse the dungeon bat of any wrongdoing because of his association with the ‘Order’. 

She wasn't sure of that but one thing she was sure that Snape wasn’t a Strigoi because knocking one of them unconscious was not a laughing matter. It took at least four to five trained hunters of the Council to bring one of them down and vampires are physically stronger than wizards. So there was no way she could have KOed him if that was the case. So did he get startled? Or did one of his experiments go wrong or something? That could happen, couldn’t it? After all, she was in the infirmary until this very evening for just that. Or was she still making excuses for the Dungeon bat?

She felt so frustrated that she was going round and round in her reasoning. She didn't know what to do so she decided to ask the person who was responsible for bringing the reason for her conflicting thoughts.

“So what should we do?” Harriet asked, gesturing to the man lying unconscious.

“Dobby and Missy Potter could help Professor Snappy get back?” 

“Get back where?” “To his rooms?”

Dobby nodded his head vigorously.

“Dobby I don't know where his living quarters are, not to mention we don’t know his passwords either”

“Dobby can get Missy Potter in. Dobby can just pop in if Dobby wants. Hoggywarts won’t mind”

Harriet looked at the little elf a bit horrified. It was one thing sneaking in the dungeons and another was sneaking in the quarters of the Dungeon Bat himself. If the man ever finds out, no one will even find her body to bury. But what was the alternative? She could leave him here but she didn't know how safe this place was. Not to mention she wouldn’t feel right while Lockheart roamed the halls of Hogwarts. Especially not after the gruesome details he gave on what he would do if ‘another’ Strigoi crossed his path. She wasn’t worried aboutthe things’ he would or could do but he will surely make the professor's life difficult just because he was a vampire.

Harriet sighed when her saving people thing raised its ugly head. She took a long look at the potions professor and she realized how sickly he looked. His face looked a bit gaunt and sunken. His hair looked oilier than usual. At that, she resigned herself to do the right thing and get the poor man to his quarters.

She stood up and shook the dust out of her cloak. Then she gave Dobby a smile “Let's do it then Dobby. Let’s get him to his room.” Dobby beamed at her and grabbed her hand to pop her right beside the prone form of Snape. They both touched the man and popped away from the come-and-go room.

The next moment when Harriet looked around she was in a bedroom sitting in front of a fireplace. It was quite spacious but it had a homey touch to it. Her eyes drifted everywhere taking in the room, the curtains, the dressers, the mirrors, the bookshelf, the plush carpet everything. The big four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room adorned by cream bedsheets which were unexpected for her. But the bookcases on either side of his dressers were expected. In short, it looked like somewhere Snape would live.

“Dobby can you help me get him to bed?” Harriet asked.

Without an answer, Dobby levitated the potions master the short distance and when he was hovering on top of his bed Harriet pulled away the comforter to settle the man underneath. It felt surreal tucking her most feared professor in. The moment Snape was beneath his covers she leaped off the bed but didn't take a step back. She was still looking at the face of the man and wondered out loud “Wouldn't it be better if she could give the man a nutrient potion. She knew there was a special kind too for the vampires. Only if she could get one of them for him”

“Oh, Dobby knows where to get one of those. Should Dobby?”

“Where would that be Dobby”

“Professor Sanppy has them in his private stock”

Harriet looked “Dobby we can't steal from him. Yes it would be for him but it won't be right”

“No, no Missy Potter. No stealing needed. Professor Snappy gave all the elfies permission to take whatever they needed from Professor Snappy’s stock. We are allowed to take potions when we are sick or need to help someone. Professor Snappy is a great man taking care of all the elfies in the castle.” Dobby proclaimed.

Harriet stood there a bit dumbfounded. So the dungeon bat, the terror of all students was a hero to all elves?! Alright, the night just got a little bit weirder for her.

“Should Dobby go?” the little guy asked, trying to be helpful.

Harriet thought about that offer for a moment. Should she give him a nutrient potion? She was sure those potions didn't have any side effects, even for some who didn't need it. So she made up her mind and asked Dobby to get the specific one that the potion’s master brewed for himself. In a matter of minutes Harriet had the potion in her hand but now she didn’t know how to give it to an unconscious man. She was afraid that Snape would end up choking on it. Dobby came to her rescue yet again and vanished the potion to the man’s stomach. After that Harriet sat there a moment dragging a chair near the bed just trying to make sure the potion didn't do any harm. She and Dobby sat by the bed for who knows how long watching over the unconscious man.

When it was nearing daybreak according to her tempus, she knew she had to go. She looked at the poor elf who was sleeping in the other chair. She felt guilty that her little friend had to sacrifice his sleep to help her. Then she went and checked on the professor. Thankfully he was looking a lot better. She let out a sigh of relief. She could leave without much worry. So she went and gently shook the elf to wake him up.

“Dobby, you should go back to your nest and sleep,” Harriet said to the still groggy elf.

“Missy potter should sleep too”

“I will.” Harriet agreed.

Dobby gave a nod of satisfaction “Then Dobby will Take Missy Potter back”

“You don't have to do that Dobby,” Harriet said to her little friend “I can just use the cloak”

Dobby shook his head “No Dobby take Missy Potter back” the little guy said determinedly.

Harriet didn't have the heart to say no to that. After that Dobby popped her back to her dorm where everyone was still asleep. So she decided to catch some sleep herself. She crawled into her bed and was out like a light.

“Wakey, Wakey! Sleepyhead" Ginny called as she bounced up and down on Harriet's bed.

"Urgh... Gin... Go away..." Harriet grumbled and attempted to swat her away. 

Ginny laughed and flung the covers off her "It's breakfast time... You're the only one still up here, Ron and Hermione said you needed to get up now!" 

"Ginnnnny!" Harriet whined and rolled over onto her stomach, her eyes flaming red. She huffed and buried her head under her pillow, "I only went to bed this morning. It hasn’t even been 2 hours" 

Ginny’s eyes widen in them were gleaming excitement “WHO IS THE GUY HUH CAPTAIN”

“Agh! GInny stop bothering me and let me sleep” Harriet whined unashamedly “ And don’t call me captain when we are not in pitch” 

"Why not?” Ginny tilted her head “It’s a title you should be proud of. After all, you earned it fair and square. Why not rub it in the face of those assholes who thought a guy should be the captain and don't forget both Angelina and Wood recommended you... Now, stop avoiding my question! Who was it?" Ginny said as she plucked the pillow off Harriet’s head and chucked it onto Hermione’s bed. 

"None of your business!" Harriet growled, "Now, give me back my pillow so I can bludgeon you to death with it." 

"Oh! Come on don’t be such a spoiled sport" Ginny pouted "I won't tell" 

Harriet took one look at the face and she couldn’t help but give her some sort of answer. She had a soft spot for this particular redhead and apparently, it wasn’t a secret from her "Alright! Alright! I'll tell you... But you have to promise not to laugh!" Harriet said as she kicked the nosy chaser off her bed and sat up. 

"Yes!" Ginny cheered and scrambled back onto Harriet's bed so that the two were facing each other. 

"Don't laugh!” Harriet said with a reigned look

“Oh, this must be good!" Ginny gushed. "Who is it?" 

Harriet sighed “I was out looking for Neville’s toad"

“HUUUUUUUU” Ginny’s mouth fell open in disappointment “You were looking for a toad?”

“Yap”

“All night?”

“Yap”

“And there wasn’t any boy or romantic getaway?”

“Nope”

“How boring” Ginny pouted.

“Sorry” Harriet gave the redhead a sly smile and got out of her bed and got dressed. “Thanks for ruining my sleep Gin. Now let’s go and get some breakfast I am starving”

**A/N:** What will Snape do when he wakes up. and what will be the next prank?

I will love to hear your guesses. See ya everyone and toodles.


End file.
